Published: November 30, 2025 – Information only, not investment advice.
Meta stock snapshot: strong rebound into the end of November
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) heads into the final month of 2025 on a rebound, after a volatile stretch dominated by AI spending, tax shocks and regulatory drama.
Meta shares last closed at about $647.95 on Friday, November 28, up roughly 9% from about $594 a week earlier — the biggest weekly gain for the stock since May, according to Dow Jones / MarketWatch data. [1]
Market data from several providers show:
- Recent close: ~$648 (Nov 28, 2025) [2]
- 52‑week range: roughly $480 – $796 per share [3]
- Market cap: about $1.6 trillion
- Trailing P/E: around 28–29x earnings [4]
- Dividend yield: near 0.3%, based on an annual payout around $2.10 per share [5]
That bounce comes after the stock hit a six‑month low near $589 on November 20, before climbing back above $630 on November 25 and then toward the mid‑$640s by the end of the week. [6]
For investors watching Meta in Google News or Discover today, the key story is not just the price action, but why the stock is moving: record revenue, a huge tax hit, a landmark antitrust win, and a pivot in AI chip strategy.
Q3 2025 earnings: record revenue, giant tax charge and heavier AI capex
Meta’s third‑quarter 2025 results on October 29 remain the anchor for most current analysis of the stock.
According to Meta’s earnings release and subsequent coverage:
- Revenue: $51.24 billion, up about 26% year over year, beating analyst estimates. [7]
- Non‑GAAP EPS:$7.25, well above consensus, driven by strong ads and tighter costs. [8]
- Reported (GAAP) EPS: just $1.05, after a roughly $15.9–16 billion one‑time, non‑cash tax charge linked to President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” tax law. [9]
Without that tax hit, Meta says net income would have been about $18.6 billion and EPS $7.25 — highlighting how much the accounting charge distorted the quarter’s bottom line. [10]
At the same time, Meta again raised its capital expenditure guidance for 2025, indicating it could spend $66–72 billion on AI‑heavy infrastructure including data centers and chips. [11]
Markets initially hated the cocktail of a huge tax charge and ever‑rising AI spending:
- Business Insider and other outlets reported Meta’s stock fell around 9–11% in after‑hours and subsequent trading after the earnings release. [12]
Yet as the dust settled, investors began to separate one‑off tax noise from the underlying trend: double‑digit revenue growth, rising ad prices, and heavy but deliberate investment in AI capabilities.
Google AI chip talks: Meta looks for leverage against Nvidia
The most market‑moving headline for Meta stock in the last week came from AI chip strategy.
A Reuters report on November 25 revealed that Meta is in talks with Alphabet’s Google to spend billions of dollars on Google’s custom tensor processing unit (TPU) AI chips, starting in 2027. The discussions also include renting TPUs from Google Cloud as early as next year. [13]
Key implications from Reuters and subsequent market commentary:
- Meta is one of Nvidia’s largest customers, with up to $72 billion in AI‑related spend planned this year, so any shift toward Google’s TPUs and Broadcom‑made silicon could directly threaten Nvidia’s dominance. [14]
- Google, Broadcom and Nvidia stocks all reacted to the news, underscoring the high stakes for AI infrastructure suppliers. [15]
MarketBeat notes that after weeks of selling pressure, Meta shares rebounded from about $589 on November 20 to roughly $636 by the November 25 close, then to about $647.48 by the end of trading on November 28, a move partly credited to the chip‑talk headlines. [16]
A fresh analysis from Simply Wall St framed the story this way:
- Meta’s talks about adopting Google TPUs do not change the immediate driver of the business (AI‑driven ad performance),
- but they could ease one of the main investor fears: that spiraling AI infrastructure costs and dependence on a single supplier will crush margins. [17]
In short, the chip story is less about some sudden new product and more about bargaining power and long‑term cost of AI. If Meta can pit Google against Nvidia for high‑end AI silicon, it may protect its free cash flow while still building massive models.
Hyperion: Meta’s $27 billion Louisiana data center and accounting controversy
Meta’s AI ambitions are also visible in Hyperion, a gigantic new data center project in Richland Parish, Louisiana.
The joint venture structure
In October, Meta announced a joint venture with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital to develop the Hyperion data center campus, with an estimated $27 billion of financing. [18]
Key terms described in Meta and Blue Owl communications and Reuters coverage:
- Meta will hold about 20% equity in the joint venture; Blue Owl‑managed funds hold the rest. [19]
- A holding entity sold roughly $27.3 billion in bonds, much of it reportedly bought by Pimco, to fund construction. [20]
- Meta will lease the facility starting in 2029, initially under a relatively short “operating lease,” which allows the company to keep the data center and associated debt off its balance sheet for now. [21]
Why investors care
A Wall Street Journal investigation highlighted concerns that Hyperion may be an example of aggressive off‑balance‑sheet accounting. Critics argue that because Meta appears to control key aspects of construction, operations and long‑term risk, accounting rules may eventually require Meta to consolidate the joint venture’s debt and assets. [22]
If regulators or auditors decide Hyperion is effectively controlled by Meta, the company could have to bring tens of billions of dollars of debt onto its balance sheet — not catastrophic for a company of Meta’s size, but a visible hit to reported leverage and capital intensity.
From a stock perspective, Hyperion represents:
- An enormous AI capacity bet (over 2 gigawatts of compute, according to Reuters),
- A test case for private‑credit‑funded AI infrastructure, and
- A potential flashpoint for future scrutiny of Meta’s financial reporting. [23]
Regulatory spotlight: big antitrust win, but more scrutiny ahead
Landmark victory over the FTC
On November 18, 2025, Meta scored one of the biggest legal wins in its history.
A U.S. federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled that Meta is not an illegal social‑networking monopoly, rejecting the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to unwind the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. [24]
The decision means:
- Meta will not be forced to spin off Instagram or WhatsApp,
- Courts accepted the argument that competition from TikTok, YouTube and other platforms undercuts the claim that Meta still dominates social networking, and
- The FTC’s highest‑profile Big Tech case in years ended in a clean loss, prompting a wave of commentary about how antitrust law handles fast‑moving digital markets. [25]
This win is one of the “key antitrust victories” referenced in current investor analysis of Meta, and it removes a massive structural risk that had hung over the stock since 2020. [26]
Europe and Italy still circling
However, Meta is far from out of regulators’ crosshairs:
- In late November, Meta criticized the EU’s antitrust arm in court, calling its document demands “aberrant” in long‑running probes involving Facebook and Marketplace. [27]
- Italy’s competition authority broadened an investigation into how Meta integrates AI tools into WhatsApp Business and its AI assistant, warning that the changes could hinder competition in AI chatbot services. [28]
Separately, a TechScape column in The Guardian argued that regulators in both the EU and U.S. are quietly loosening parts of their tech crackdown, pointing to Meta and Google recently avoiding some antitrust penalties as courts recognize intense competition from new AI and social platforms. [29]
Net effect: Meta’s U.S. antitrust risk has dropped sharply, which is bullish for the stock’s long‑term optionality, but regulatory and political risk remains a permanent feature of the investment case.
Scam‑ad allegations and brand risk
Beyond competition law, Meta is facing scrutiny over what kind of advertising it profits from.
A major Reuters investigation in early November reported that internal Meta documents estimated the company could earn about 10% of its 2024 revenue — roughly $16 billion — from ads for scams and other banned products, and that users were being shown an estimated 15 billion “higher‑risk” scam ads per day across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. [30]
Meta disputed the characterization, saying the internal estimate was “rough and overly inclusive” and that the true figure is lower because many legitimate ads were included in the “scam” bucket. The company did not publicly provide an updated number. [31]
For investors, the story raises two concerns:
- Regulatory and legal risk: lawmakers and regulators could demand tougher controls or impose penalties, raising compliance costs.
- Brand and advertiser risk: big brands do not want their ads appearing alongside scams, especially as alternative platforms (TikTok, YouTube, retail media networks) compete for budgets.
So far, there has been no immediate sign of a mass advertiser exodus, and Meta’s ad revenue in Q3 still grew strongly. But the investigation adds to the perception that Meta’s short‑term profit engine can conflict with long‑term trust, something markets tend to price into valuation multiples over time.
Privacy, Meta AI and user data
Another theme in Meta‑related headlines this month involves the company’s AI assistant and data usage.
A widely shared fact‑check article clarified that Meta’s planned policy update does not suddenly give the company the right to “read all your private messages”, as some viral posts claimed. Instead, it expands how Meta can use data it already collects — such as interactions with its Meta AI assistant — to train and improve models. [32]
That nuance matters for regulators and for the stock:
- If users feel tricked, they may reduce use or sharing on Meta’s platforms, which directly hurts the ad business.
- On the other hand, high‑quality conversational data is extremely valuable for AI training, and successfully integrating Meta AI into WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook could deepen engagement and unlock new monetization.
Investors are watching whether Meta can balance AI training needs with privacy expectations without triggering a backlash that forces it to scale back.
Institutional flows, insiders and analyst sentiment
Hedge funds buying, insiders selling
A fresh MarketBeat note on November 29 highlighted that Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its Meta position by 11.9%, ending the quarter with 9,963 shares worth about $7.35 million, making Meta its 15th‑largest holding. [33]
The same report notes that:
- Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own around 80% of Meta’s float, and
- Corporate insiders have been net sellers, unloading about 41,959 shares worth roughly $26.8 million in the last quarter, though they still hold about 13.6% of the company. [34]
Insider selling at these mega‑cap levels is often driven by diversification and pre‑planned trading programs, but it does temper the otherwise bullish institutional picture.
Wall Street still overwhelmingly bullish
Analyst coverage remains strongly positive:
- According to Quiver Quantitative, 33 analysts have issued price targets in the past six months, with a median target around $840 and no sell ratings. [35]
- MarketBeat data pegs the average target near $823.93 and the overall consensus rating as “Moderate Buy”, with dozens of Buy or Strong Buy ratings and relatively few Holds. [36]
- Individual firms quoted in recent coverage include:
- CFRA: Buy, $880 target
- JPMorgan: bullish on Meta’s AI strategy, with a target around $875
- Bank of America: Buy, $900 target
- DA Davidson: Buy, $825 target [37]
Against a roughly $648 share price, the median target near $840 implies almost 30% upside, while the MarketBeat average suggests upside of around 27%, assuming forecasts are accurate and timelines hold. [38]
Of course, these are forecasts, not guarantees. They largely assume Meta’s AI investments will ultimately pay off in higher revenue and sustained margins, and that regulatory risks stay manageable.
How the pieces fit together for Meta stock
Stacking all of November’s key storylines gives a clearer picture of why Meta stock is back on the move:
- Fundamentals: Revenue is growing in the mid‑20s percent, with strong ad pricing and user growth, but GAAP profits are distorted by a one‑time tax charge and heavy AI capex. [39]
- AI strategy: Meta is spending tens of billions to build what CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls “personal superintelligence,” from Meta AI and Reels recommender systems to Ray‑Ban smart glasses and massive data centers like Hyperion. [40]
- Chips and infrastructure: Talks with Google about TPUs, plus the Hyperion financing structure, show Meta trying to control AI costs and scale quickly without blowing up its balance sheet — a delicate act. [41]
- Regulation: A huge antitrust win in the U.S. removes the immediate threat of forced break‑ups, even as the EU and Italy continue to probe Meta’s behavior and AI strategy. [42]
- Reputation and governance: Investigations into scam ads and concerns about off‑balance‑sheet financing keep questions alive about Meta’s risk tolerance and governance culture. [43]
- Market sentiment: Big weekly gains, rising institutional ownership and bullish analyst targets all point to renewed optimism, though insider selling and ongoing regulatory overhangs prevent outright euphoria. [44]
For now, Meta sits at the intersection of three powerful forces: the AI investment boom, shifting global regulation of Big Tech, and a still‑dominant digital advertising machine that funds everything else.
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. stockanalysis.com, 3. www.marketbeat.com, 4. www.marketbeat.com, 5. www.marketbeat.com, 6. www.marketbeat.com, 7. www.nasdaq.com, 8. www.nasdaq.com, 9. www.businessinsider.com, 10. www.prnewswire.com, 11. www.businessinsider.com, 12. www.businessinsider.com, 13. www.reuters.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. simplywall.st, 18. investor.atmeta.com, 19. investor.atmeta.com, 20. www.wsj.com, 21. www.wsj.com, 22. www.wsj.com, 23. www.reuters.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. simplywall.st, 27. www.reuters.com, 28. www.reuters.com, 29. www.theguardian.com, 30. www.reuters.com, 31. www.reuters.com, 32. socialbee.com, 33. www.marketbeat.com, 34. www.marketbeat.com, 35. www.quiverquant.com, 36. www.marketbeat.com, 37. www.businessinsider.com, 38. stockanalysis.com, 39. www.nasdaq.com, 40. www.businessinsider.com, 41. www.reuters.com, 42. www.reuters.com, 43. www.reuters.com, 44. www.marketbeat.com
