Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) is trading in the mid‑$650s on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, as investors weigh an aggressive pivot toward artificial intelligence, deep cuts to metaverse spending, and a flurry of fresh regulatory and analyst headlines. [1]
Meta stock price today: still below its AI-spending shock highs
Meta stock recently changed hands around $656–$657 per share, roughly 1.5% below the prior close and valuing the company at about $1.85 trillion in market capitalization. The shares trade at roughly 31.5 times trailing earnings, based on EPS of about $22.6.
The move comes after a volatile autumn:
- Following Meta’s Q3 earnings on October 29, the stock dropped more than 21% as Wall Street digested management’s plan for much higher AI‑related capital expenditures. [2]
- Since bottoming on November 19, META has bounced back about 11%, leaving it up roughly 9.6% year‑to‑date in 2025, after huge rallies of ~185% in 2023 and ~69% in 2024. [3]
In short: Meta is no longer in “free‑fall after earnings,” but the stock is still trading noticeably below its late‑October highs as the market continues to re‑price the balance between AI opportunity and AI spending.
What is moving Meta stock now?
1. Reality Labs cuts and a full‑throttle AI pivot
The single biggest strategic storyline around META this week is the downsizing of its metaverse ambitions and a decisive shift toward AI infrastructure and hardware:
- According to reporting based on internal budget discussions, Meta plans to cut the Reality Labs division’s budget by up to 30%, implying $4–$6 billion in reduced spending. [4]
- Reality Labs, which houses Quest headsets, Horizon Worlds and AR/VR research, has racked up more than $70 billion in losses since 2021. [5]
- At the same time, Meta expects to spend roughly $72 billion on AI in 2025, spanning data centers, custom silicon, model development and AI‑powered hardware like Ray‑Ban Meta smart glasses. [6]
Reports indicate that CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked executives to identify 10% cost cuts across Meta, while pushing Reality Labs to go further. These changes could include layoffs in the metaverse unit as early as 2026, although final decisions have not been announced. [7]
The market’s verdict so far has been positive: news of the Reality Labs cuts earlier this month sent Meta shares up more than 4% in a single session, adding roughly $69 billion in market value as investors welcomed a more disciplined approach to metaverse losses. [8]
2. Inside the $14 billion Scale AI deal
Another major AI storyline behind META today is its $14 billion investment in Scale AI, an AI‑data and model‑evaluation startup: [9]
- Meta acquired roughly a 49% stake and hired Scale AI’s high‑profile founder Alexandr Wang, underscoring how critical high‑quality training data is to Meta’s AI roadmap. [10]
- Business Insider reporting suggests the deal has shaken Scale AI’s internal culture and valuation, with gig workers complaining about lower effective pay, and private‑market valuations reportedly dropping from about $29 billion at deal time to single‑digit billions on some secondary platforms. [11]
- At the same time, Scale AI is pivoting toward robotics and defense contracts, and has won up to $199 million in government deals, while claiming its data business is now more profitable. [12]
For META shareholders, the Scale AI stake is strategically important: it plugs Meta more deeply into the ecosystem that trains and stress‑tests frontier AI models. But it also raises questions about execution risk and return on capital when Meta is already committing tens of billions annually to its own AI infrastructure.
3. Earnings and fundamentals: ad machine + AI CapEx
Today’s trading action still reflects the shock from Q3, which looked strong operationally but spooked the market on spending:
- In Q3 2025, Meta reported $51.24 billion in revenue, beating analyst estimates of $49.41 billion and growing sales by about 26% year‑on‑year, its fastest growth since early 2024. [13]
- Adjusted EPS came in at $7.25, ahead of the roughly $6.69 consensus, but GAAP EPS plunged to about $1.05 versus expectations near $6.70, reflecting large charges and investment spending. [14]
- Over the last decade (2014–2024), Meta’s revenue has increased from roughly $12.5 billion to $164.5 billion, while net income has climbed from about $2.9 billion to more than $62 billion, driven almost entirely by its advertising‑heavy Family of Apps segment (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, Reels). [15]
Cash‑generation remains a key part of the bull case:
- Free cash flow reached $43 billion in 2023 and roughly $52.1 billion in 2024, after Zuckerberg’s “year of efficiency” pivot toward cost control. [16]
- Management has flagged “significant capital expenditure growth in 2025” to support AI research and products, meaning even more of that cash will be recycled into data centers and AI hardware rather than short‑term earnings. [17]
The Family of Apps segment is still a cash cow, with Seeking Alpha estimating a net profit margin above 30% and return on invested capital (ROIC) above 23% for that business alone. [18]
New dividend, buybacks and the December 15 catalyst
In 2025 Meta joined the “Big Tech dividend club”:
- The company introduced a regular dividend this year; at current prices the forward yield is roughly 0.3–0.4%, or about $0.52 per share per quarter ($2.08 annually). [19]
- Meta has also authorized an additional $50 billion in share repurchases, reinforcing management’s confidence in long‑term cash flows. [20]
A near‑term date to watch is the December 15, 2025 ex‑dividend date. Recent commentary notes that Meta stock has been trading relatively flat as investors eye that event alongside Reality Labs cuts, AI initiatives and European regulatory developments. [21]
Regulation: one big win, several new headaches
U.S.: Meta wins landmark FTC antitrust case
On November 18, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled that Meta is not a monopoly in U.S. social media, effectively ending the Federal Trade Commission’s long‑running bid to force divestitures of Instagram and WhatsApp. [22]
Key points from the decision:
- The court held that Meta competes in a broader social media market that includes TikTok and YouTube, rejecting the FTC’s narrow “personal social networking” definition. [23]
- Judge James Boasberg wrote that even if Meta had significant power in the past, the FTC failed to prove it still holds monopoly power today, given how quickly user behaviour and platforms have evolved. [24]
This ruling removes a major overhang: the risk that Meta could be forced to spin off Instagram or WhatsApp now looks remote in the U.S., at least under current law.
EU: mixed signals on privacy and AI
Europe remains the most significant regulatory risk region for Meta, and recent developments are a mixed bag:
- EU green‑lights a revised ad model (good news)
- On December 8, EU antitrust regulators approved Meta’s updated “pay‑or‑consent” model for Facebook and Instagram, which commits to using less personal data for targeted ads and gives users clearer choices. [25]
- The decision means Meta will avoid daily fines of up to 5% of global turnover that could have been imposed under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) for non‑compliance. [26]
- New antitrust probe into WhatsApp AI (bad news)
- On December 4, the European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Meta’s plan to limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, as it rolls out its own Meta AI assistant inside the app. [27]
- Regulators are concerned the policy could block rival chatbots from reaching users through WhatsApp, potentially violating EU competition rules; Meta could face interim measures to halt the rollout and fines of up to 10% of global revenue if found guilty. [28]
For investors, the takeaway is straightforward: U.S. structural‑breakup risk has diminished, but European regulatory and antitrust risk remains high, especially around AI, data usage and messaging platforms.
Meta stock forecasts and Wall Street price targets
Despite recent volatility, Wall Street’s fundamental view on META remains overwhelmingly positive.
Consensus price targets
Across several major aggregators, the numbers cluster tightly:
- Average 12‑month target: around $820–$832 per share, implying roughly 25% upside from today’s mid‑$650s share price. [29]
- Low target: typically in the $605–$655 range. [30]
- Street‑high target:$1,117 from Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett, who reiterated a “Strong Buy” rating on December 5, 2025. [31]
TipRanks, StockAnalysis and other platforms all show a “Strong Buy” consensus rating, with about 36 Buy ratings, 6 Hold and only 1 Sell among roughly 43 analysts tracked in the past three months. [32]
Recent moves in individual targets include:
- Bank of America trimming its target from $900 to $810 while maintaining a Buy. [33]
- Arete upgrading META from Neutral to Buy with a $718 target on December 4. [34]
- Cantor Fitzgerald cutting its target from $830 to $720, still rating the stock Buy. [35]
Wall Street’s fundamental models broadly assume:
- Strong revenue growth in 2025 and 2026, with consensus calling for ~24% sales growth this year to about $203 billion, and ~18% in 2026 to roughly $240 billion. [36]
- EPS growth from about $23.9 in 2024 to $25.5 in 2025 and $30.7 in 2026, even after factoring in higher AI CapEx. [37]
In other words, most sell‑side analysts see AI spending as value‑creating, not purely dilutive, and expect Meta’s ad engine plus new AI‑related products to support double‑digit earnings growth.
Quant and technical models: more cautious near term
While fundamental analysts are mostly bullish, several algorithmic and technical services are sending a more cautious short‑term signal.
Intellectia: “Strong Sell” on technical grounds
AI‑driven platform Intellectia currently rates META as a “Strong Sell” in the near and mid‑term, despite projecting substantial upside by 2026 and 2030: [38]
- It notes that Meta’s share price fell 1.48% on December 9 to $656.96, with price weakness in 5 of the last 10 sessions. [39]
- Its technical toolkit flags 5 bearish vs. 2 bullish signals, pointing to a falling trend and warning of potential short‑term weakness. [40]
- At the same time, the platform’s longer‑term model projects META at about $868.88 in 2026 and ~$1,379 by 2030, implying substantial upside from today’s price if those forecasts materialize. [41]
CoinCodex: bearish 1‑year call, mild near‑term dip
Crypto‑and‑stocks site CoinCodex also paints a mixed picture for META: [42]
- Latest quote: $656.81, down about 1.5% over the prior 24 hours.
- Its 5‑day model expects the stock to hover in roughly the $652–$659 range, a modest fluctuation.
- However, its 1‑year algorithmic forecast is sharply bearish, projecting a price near $382.52 (about 42% below current levels).
- For 2030, the same model expects META around $713, roughly 9% above today, and suggests the stock could reach $1,000 by late 2028 in its long‑range scenario.
Importantly, CoinCodex itself emphasizes that these are model‑based scenarios, not investment advice, and highlights that the broader trading environment is currently in a “fear” regime with elevated volatility. [43]
Bull vs. bear case for Meta stock right now
Bullish arguments
Supporters of META at today’s price tend to focus on:
- Advertising machine still humming
Family of Apps continues to deliver strong revenue growth and margins above 30%, with ROIC above 20% in the core business. [44] - AI positioning and open‑source leadership
Meta is investing tens of billions per year in AI compute, open‑sourcing large language models, and integrating AI assistants across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Ray‑Ban Meta glasses—potentially creating new monetization paths beyond ads. [45] - Capital returns plus growth
A new dividend, a massive buyback program and strong free cash flow give Meta room to both reward shareholders and keep investing aggressively. [46] - Regulatory relief in the U.S.
The decisive win against the FTC greatly reduces the probability of forced break‑ups in the U.S., supporting the long‑term value of Instagram and WhatsApp under the Meta umbrella. [47]
Bearish arguments
Skeptics highlight several risks:
- AI CapEx could overshoot
With planned AI spending around $72 billion in 2025 alone and a history of heavy metaverse losses, bears worry Meta could again “overbuild” and hurt returns on capital. [48] - European regulatory drag
Even as one ad‑model dispute is resolved, the new WhatsApp AI antitrust probe and continuing DMA scrutiny could constrain product design, delay rollouts or lead to hefty fines. [49] - Technical and quant signals are flashing caution
Several models (Intellectia, CoinCodex) see META as technically overextended after its massive 2023–24 run, with moving averages and momentum suggesting a period of consolidation or downside risk. [50] - Scale AI integration risk
The $14 billion Scale AI deal gives Meta deep access to AI‑training capabilities but also ties it to a company currently facing internal unrest, rising competition and uncertain private‑market valuations. [51]
Key things for investors to watch after December 10, 2025
Looking beyond today’s tape, several catalysts stand out for Meta Platforms stock:
- December 15 ex‑dividend date – Income and dividend‑growth investors will watch how much demand builds into (and falls off after) the upcoming ex‑div date. [52]
- Details and timing of Reality Labs cuts – The market wants clarity on how quickly Meta can shrink metaverse losses while still nurturing AR/VR and smart‑glasses projects that might benefit its AI ecosystem. [53]
- EU WhatsApp AI ruling and any interim measures – Aggressive remedies could force Meta to re‑open WhatsApp to rival AI assistants, altering the economics of its own AI assistant strategy in Europe. [54]
- Next earnings and CapEx guidance – Any update on 2025–26 CapEx paths, AI revenue contributions and Family of Apps margins will likely be the main driver for the next big leg up—or down—in META. [55]
Bottom line: how does META look today?
On December 10, 2025, Meta Platforms stock sits at the intersection of three powerful forces:
- A cash‑rich, still‑growing ad engine;
- A massive and risky AI build‑out, partly funded by deep cuts to the metaverse;
- A regulatory backdrop that has eased in the U.S. but remains highly adversarial in Europe.
Most fundamental analysts see meaningful upside over the next 12 months, with Street targets clustering about 25% above today’s price and a Street‑high pointing to as much as 70% upside. Quant and technical models, however, warn of a possible consolidation or drawdown after two years of spectacular gains and recent post‑earnings turbulence. [56]
As always, this article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Meta Platforms is a complex, large‑cap AI and social‑media company; anyone considering an investment should evaluate their own risk tolerance, time horizon and diversification, and, if needed, consult a qualified financial adviser.
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