NEW YORK, Jan 23, 2026, 09:38 ET — Regular session
Shares of Meta Platforms Inc climbed 5.7%, hitting $647.63 by 9:38 a.m. ET on Friday. That’s a $34.72 jump from the previous close, continuing the rally for the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The move comes right before a packed week of megacap earnings and a Federal Reserve policy decision, following market swings driven by geopolitics and tariff debates. “The earnings bar had better be met,” said Chris Galipeau, senior market strategist at Franklin Templeton. “At the end of the day, earnings are the driver,” he added. (Reuters)
Meta, part of the so-called “Magnificent Seven,” has been underperforming recently. Since its last earnings report, the stock has dropped roughly 18%, now trading at about 20.1 times forward earnings — a metric investors use to gauge expected profits. By comparison, Alphabet sits at 28.3 times forward earnings, according to MarketWatch.
Meta’s Threads, a text-first social app competing with X, is set to introduce ads globally starting next week, the company announced Wednesday. The full rollout will stretch over several months. Threads has already attracted over 400 million monthly active users. Meta added that ad delivery will start off “low,” according to TechCrunch. (TechCrunch)
Investors are closely monitoring if Meta can translate its massive AI investments into actual products and ad revenue. At Davos, CTO Andrew Bosworth revealed that Meta’s new AI lab rolled out its first major internal models this month, describing them as “very good.” Still, he acknowledged there’s “a tremendous amount of work” needed post-training to make them practical. (Reuters)
Jefferies analyst Brent Thill stuck with a Buy rating and set a $910 price target on Thursday. He pointed to WhatsApp and Threads as key drivers for monetization and said Meta stands to gain from an “AI flywheel” boosting its core ad business, according to The Motley Fool. (The Motley Fool)
The rally builds on a robust day for megacap tech. Meta surged 5.7% Thursday after reports that President Donald Trump softened his stance on tariffs related to Greenland, according to Reuters. Every one of the seven big tech names closed up. (Reuters)
Regulators are intensifying scrutiny of Meta’s messaging operations. Britain’s Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether Meta gave full and accurate details about WhatsApp during a market review. Meta responded that it allocates “significant resources” to handling information requests and plans to cooperate. (Reuters)
The macro calendar might shake up risk appetite in tech. The Fed is scheduled to meet Jan. 27–28, with its rate decision due Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET and a press conference shortly after at 2:30 p.m. ET, per the central bank’s calendar. (Federal Reserve)
Meta plans to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results after the market closes on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The company will follow up with a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET. Investors will be focused on updates around ad demand, spending outlook, and the growth trajectory of new offerings like Threads. (Atmeta)
