It's a time of shining meta.
Facebook parents are on the deck to report second quarter revenue after the deadline bell on Wednesday. Wall Street analysts are bullish at the future outcomes of the tech giant.
Analysts expect to report revenue of $44.7 billion over the past three months compared to revenue of $42.3 billion in the first quarter. Earnings per share are expected to be $5.86, according to Bloomberg data.
Wall Street is increasingly seen as a meta-related AI play. The company is on track to deploy profits from AI-driven advertising on two major data centers and its platforms.
Earlier this year, the company said it would spend up to $65 billion in CAPEX as AI will become a central growth strategy for the company.
Here's what analysts are saying about stocks ahead of their next earnings report:
Bank of America: “Top Online Advertising Stock”
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Bank of America analysts said they expect Meta to win the consensus estimate of second-quarter revenues, referring to the positive checks they have made in Meta's advertising business.
They estimated revenue could be around $45.5 billion at Meta's quarterly guidance cap.
In a memo earlier this month, the analysts were called Meta A “Top Online Advertising Stocks” in 2025. That's because the company appears to be in the best position to benefit from AI-driven advertising.
However, Meta's AI spending can become a problem.
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“Cost risk of reporting that Meta increases AI employment and CAPEX spending is the biggest concern for print,” the analyst wrote last week, adding that it expects the company's total staff to increase by 2% in the quarter.
Analysts repeated the “buy” ratings on the stock. Earlier this month, they raised their price target from $765 to $775. This means an 8% increase from the current level of the stock.
Oppenheimer: Advertising is a bullish factor
Oppenheimer has increased Meta's revenue range through the rest of 2025. Revenue could rise last month at 4% in the second quarter, 9% in the fourth quarter and 3%.
Still, Oppenheimer said he saw only a handful of the important risks looming in inventory. Here are some of the potential headwinds they see:
- Meta can have a hard time innovating AI capabilities. “Scout” and Maverick “the latest AI model for the company's Lama 4″ drastically kicked out the peers,” Oppenheimer said.
- Investors can sell meta stocks and divert their earnings to new Tech IPOs.
- Meta ads can be less effective if privacy restrictions make it difficult for companies to track user data
- The company faces competition with Google, Microsoft, Pinterest, Twitter, Tiktok and others.
Oppenheimer repeated its “outperform” ratings on its stock, increasing its price target to $775 per share, meaning an 8% increase from its current level.
Needham: “I hope Meta will deliver too much.”
Needham had a mixed view of Meta heading towards second quarter revenue. Meanwhile, the company's analysts upgraded the stock's valuation from “underperformance” to “hold” and cited two positive catalysts.
- Increase in revenue. “Based on our channel checks, we expect Meta to be over-induced with previous REV and margin estimates for 2Q25 and 2025,” analysts estimate that Meta will record an annual revenue growth rate of 14% and a 6% equity growth rate.
- Highly productive. Meta's business is more productive than other megacap technology companies, scoring the highest free cash flow compared to 2024 labor costs.
Still, analysts look ahead to the risks of a small number of people preventing stocks from valuing them as “buying.” Risks include pressure on meta margins and free cash flow, higher than expected total labor costs due to inventory-based compensation, and the use of several strategies in businesses where meta “wash capital and adds risk.”
Citizen: CAPEX could rise above $90 billion next year
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Civic analysts say the meta could be even higher as Meta throws more money into AI and Superintelligence projects and more money into that AI and Superintelligence project.
“The company believes it is going through a critical investment cycle as Meta invests in materials in a Superintelligence team, including researchers and computing, and expects 2026 Capex to surprise the streets as Meta builds multiple 1GQ or more data centers.”
Analysts say that when a company goes through an investment cycle, stocks are not normally earning profits. However, the meta situation can be different as AI can improve the ad experience for users.
“To that end, we believe computing and access to more models will help us maintain revenue growth, and we will moderately increase our meta growth estimates,” analysts said.
The company repeats its “better than the market” rating and a $750 price target for the stock, meaning it's upside down at 5% from its current level.
CFRA research: Employment, advertising spending, AI focus
Angelo Zino, an analyst at CFRA Research, wrote this month that investors are likely most interested in three things heading for Meta's revenue calls.
- This is the company's recent “AI employment fuss.”
- Meta ad spending health across social media platforms.
- monetizes the company's AI and other growth initiatives.
Still, Zino said it expects Meta to meet its second and third quarter forecast revenue targets, primarily due to improved stability in the digital advertising market.
According to Zino, if Meta's ad impressions increase by about 5% to 6%, the average price per AD could rise by 9% to 10% in both the second and third quarters.
The CFRA repeated its “buy” ratings on the stock, increasing its price target from $750 to $800, meaning an upside of 12% from its current level.
