Given Meta Platform’s strong Q2 performance, modest valuation compared to Google and Microsoft, and optimistic growth forecasts, Meta stock is likely to top $800 within weeks. Whether the stock continues to rise depends on whether the company reports Q3 results that beat expectations and raises its forecasts for Q4 growth and profitability.
If Meta falls short on Q3 growth or Q4 guidance, the stock could tumble way below $800 by the end of 2025..
Read on for a discussion of how much Meta’s stock has risen so far this year, the forces propelling and impeding the company’s growth, how the Facebook parent’s valuation compares to rivals and where analysts see the stock going in the next year.
Meta Platforms’s Recent Stock Performance
Meta stock has been on a roll. In 2024, shares of the Facebook parent increased 69% – rising from $354 to $600 a share. As of August 25, Meta shares had risen another 26% to $755. With a mere 3% more to rise to reach $800 a share, Meta appears more likely than not to surpass that target by the end of 2025.
Factors Driving Meta’s Potential Growth
Meta’s strategic focus on artificial intelligence and its strong core advertising business, coupled with a vast user base, present significant growth opportunities for the company.
Core Social Media Revenue Growth
Meta’s core ad business remains robust, with strong revenue growth in 2025 driven by AI-enhanced ad targeting, increased advertiser adoption of AI tools and higher engagement across platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Threads. AI integration has led to increased conversion rates for ads, particularly on Reels, according to AInvest.
User Base And Engagement Growth
Meta continues to see growth in Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads with daily active users growing 6% to 3.48 billion in Q2 2025. Improved content recommendation algorithms and features like Reels contribute to increased time spent on the platforms, further enhancing the advertising opportunity, Zacks noted.
Investments In AI Infrastructure
Meta’s aggressive investments in AI infrastructure, including data centers and AI models like Llama 4, could help the company’s business lines grow. The Meta AI chatbot and assistant are gaining traction, nearing one billion monthly active users, suggesting potential for AI-driven experiences and new revenue streams. Meta’s AI strategy also includes AI-powered glasses and potential enterprise applications for businesses, SeekingAlpha wrote.
Revenue Growth And Cost Cutting
Meta posted 22% revenue growth in the second quarter, showing its core ad business remains strong at a time when the company is investing billions of dollars into AI. The results show the extent to which Meta’s advertising business will continue to pay for its outsize AI ambitions, as well as how the AI tools are contributing to its strength, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Meta beat analyst expectations and increased guidance. Sales came in at $47.5 billion, ahead of analyst expectations. Net income for the second quarter was $18.3 billion, also ahead of market expectations. Cost-cutting measures and a focus on efficiency also contributed to Meta’s healthy financial position, the Journal noted.
Meta also said it expects to post between 17% and 24% revenue growth for the current quarter. “The investments it’s making in AI are already paying off in its ads business,” eMarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg told the Journal.
Challenges To The $800 Price Target
Meta also faces hurdles — including regulatory pressures, high capital expenditures for AI and the continued losses in its Reality Labs division.
Competition From TikTok And Other Platforms
Meta faces intense competition in both the social media and digital advertising sectors from established players like Google and emerging platforms like TikTok, as well as from new entrants in AI. TikTok is a significant threat to Meta’s social media dominance and the Facebook parent’s ability to attract advertising. Google and OpenAI are key competitors in the development of AI capabilities, particularly regarding large language models, according to Variety.
Regulatory Pressures in the U.S. and EU
Meta faces many regulatory challenges, particularly in the European Union and the United States. The European Digital Markets Act could reduce Meta’s European ad revenue in the second half of 2025, according to Team SciDA, while an ongoing FTC antitrust lawsuit poses the risk of forced divestitures of Instagram and WhatsApp, reported Wired.
Reality Labs Losses
The Reality Labs division, Meta’s metaverse and VR/AR segment, continues to operate at a significant loss, raising questions about its long-term viability and return on investment. Meta’s Reality Labs division reported $4.53 billion in the second quarter of 2025, despite generating $370 million in revenue, according to Digital Music News. This loss is a result of investments in VR and AR technologies, including the Meta Quest headsets and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
Risks of Heavy Investment in AI
Meta’s increased capital spending for AI infrastructure (estimated between $64 billion and $72 billion for 2025) could pressure margins and profitability in the short term, according to InvestorsObserver.
It remains to be seen whether these large capital investments will result in a better return on investment than has the company’s investments in the metaverse — which prompted the company’s name change from Facebook.
Meta’s Valuation Metrics Compared To Peers
While sporting a moderate valuation compared to peers, Meta’s stock price, revenue growth, and net margin have outpaced those of Google and Microsoft. Here are the details:
- Meta Stock price (as of August 25): up 26% – outpacing Google (10.2%) and Microsoft (20.7%).
- Meta second quarter 2025 revenue growth: 21.8% – faster than Google (13.7%) and Microsoft (18.1%), GoogleFinance reported
- Meta Q2 net margin: 38.6% – higher than Google (29.2%) and Microsoft (35.6%), GoogleFinance noted.
- Meta price/earnings ratio (August 25): 27.4 – higher than Google (22.6) and lower than Microsoft (37.5), noted GoogleFinance.
Analyst Predictions for 2025
Based on short-term price targets offered by 52 analysts, the average price target for Meta Platforms comes to $866.92. The forecasts range from a low of $658.00 to a high of $1,086.00. The average price target represents an increase of 10.84% from the last closing price of $782.13, according to Zacks Research.
One analyst was impressed with Meta’s Q2 report – raising his high price target to $900. “What was that? WOW,” Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik said in a client note featured by Investor’s Business Daily. “Meta destroyed expectations with perhaps one of the biggest prints in their history.”
Wedbush’s Meta stock analyst Scott Devitt raised his price target from $750 to $920, reported IBD.
Can Meta Stock Hit $800 By End Of 2025?
Meta stock needs to rise 3% more to top $800 by the end of 2025. It is likely that will happen as long as Meta beats growth expectations and raises guidance when it presents its next earnings report.