META
Meta Platforms, Inc.
$597.63
▲ 1.3%Updated Aug 7, 11:30 AM ET
META at a glance — five pillars scored 0–100 from real filed financials.
Overall: Strong · 82/100. A wider, greener shape means more pillars look healthy. Dividends scores 0 when a company pays none — that is a choice, not a flaw.
▼ Down 17.0% over the last 12 months
Market Cap
$1.48T
P/E
21.51x
Forward P/E (est.)
20.02x
ROE
33.2%
Revenue Growth
26.2%
EPS Growth
7.5%
Profit Margin
32.8%
FCF Yield
2.6%
Debt / Equity
0.28x
ROIC
22.0%
Interest Coverage
186.72x
Current Ratio
2.35x
Dividend Yield
0.4%
Implied Growth (rev. DCF)
5.7%
Rating Score
82/100
Meta's family of apps reaches roughly half the planet daily, and its AI-driven ad ranking has reaccelerated revenue while a disciplined 'year of efficiency' restored margins. The open question is how much capital Reality Labs and AI infrastructure will consume.
Evidence of durable competitive advantage in the filed financials (10 years of history).
The filed history looks like a business competitors struggle to attack: high and steady margins, revenue that grows through cycles, and strong returns on capital.
39.4% average over the last 3 years
±6.7 pts around 39.4% across 10 years
grew in 8 of the last 9 year-over-year periods
positive in 10 of 10 years
22.0% latest fiscal year
A moat can't be proven by numbers alone — this scores the evidence a durable advantage leaves behind (pricing power, consistency, returns on capital), computed the same way for every stock. Pair it with the business overview before concluding anything.
Institutional-style technical read — sample, educational only
Downtrend — price ($597.63) is below the 50-day ($605.23) and 200-day ($646.51) averages.
Setup type
Range / mean-reversion
Holding time
1–6 weeks
Risk level
Medium
Risk / reward
1 : 1.2
Trade levels
Entry zone
$563.05 – $597.63
Stop loss
$528.66
Target 1
$642.40
Target 2
$678.31
Target 3
$712.88
Position sizing: Scale in; risk ≤ 1% of capital, half-size to start.
Technical analysis
RSI(14) is neutral (53); the MACD histogram is positive (upward momentum). Downtrend — price ($597.63) is below the 50-day ($605.23) and 200-day ($646.51) averages. ATR(14) is $23.05 (~3.9% of price), which sets the stop distance. Recent support sits near $540.18 and resistance near $642.40; the 52-week range is $520.26–$796.25.
Fundamental analysis
Revenue is growing at 26.2%, net margin near 32.8%, ROE roughly 33.2%; shares trade at 22x earnings. Quality score: 82/100.
Options flow
Live options-flow data needs a paid feed, so it isn't shown. For realized volatility, ATR of $23.05 (~3.9%/day) is the range to size stops and any option strikes around.
Volume analysis
The latest session traded 1.1× the 20-day average volume — roughly in line with normal activity.
Catalysts
The next quarterly earnings report is the main near-term catalyst. Technically, watch for a break and hold above $642.40 or a loss of $540.18.
Bullish scenario
AI recommendation improvements are lifting engagement and ad pricing.
Bearish scenario
Reality Labs continues to burn tens of billions with uncertain payback.
Invalidation
A daily close below $528.66 invalidates this setup read.
Probability-based scenario using sample data — not a recommendation or a guarantee of profit. Prioritize capital preservation, use stops, and size positions for risk. Past performance does not predict future results.
Technical analysis reads price and volume to judge momentum and timing. It complements the fundamentals above — it does not replace them. Here is what META's chart says today, with each tool explained.
Trend — moving averages. A moving average is the average closing price over a window, which smooths out daily noise. META trades near $597.63, below its 50-day average ($605.23) and 200-day average ($646.51). Price below both averages is a downtrend — momentum is against buyers for now.
Momentum — RSI. The Relative Strength Index runs 0–100 and measures how strong recent gains are versus losses. Above 70 is "overbought", below 30 "oversold". At 53 it is in neutral territory — neither stretched nor washed out.
MACD. MACD compares two moving averages to flag shifts in momentum. Its histogram is currently positive — short-term momentum is improving.
Volatility — ATR. Average True Range is the typical daily move. META's is $23.05 (~3.9% of price), so swings of about that size each day are normal — handy for setting a stop that isn't too tight.
Support & resistance. Over the last month META found buyers near $540.18 (support) and sellers near $642.40 (resistance); its 52-week range is $520.26–$796.25. A decisive break beyond either edge often marks the next move.
Volume. The latest session traded 1.1× the 20-day average — about normal. Rising volume on up-days suggests real buying; on down-days, real selling.
Educational information to help you read a chart — not a recommendation or a forecast. It updates daily as the price and indicators change.
4Y CAGR
14.3%
Revenue grew from $27.64B in 2016 to $200.97B in 2025, a 24.7% CAGR. The most recent year grew about 26.2% year over year, a healthy pace pointing to durable demand.
Gross Margin
—
Operating Margin
41.4%
Net Margin
30.1%
ROE
33.2%
Gross margin runs near 81.9% with operating margin around 41.2% and net margin near 32.8%. Return on equity of roughly 33.2% indicates strong capital efficiency, and the margin profile has trended high and stable over the period shown.
Total Debt
$58.74B
Net Debt
$35.32B
Net Debt / EBITDA
0.42x
Debt / Equity
0.28x
Interest-bearing debt is about 2.0% of market capitalization and the debt-to-equity ratio is roughly 0.28x. Leverage is low, leaving the balance sheet well within comfortable limits.
Operating CF
$115.80B
Free Cash Flow
$46.11B
FCF Margin
22.9%
Operating cash flow comfortably exceeds reported net income, and free cash flow yield is around 2.6%. Cash generation is positive but partly absorbed by reinvestment and capital expenditure.
Can the payout survive a bad year? Scored from filed cash flow, earnings coverage, and the raise/cut record.
The payout is comfortably covered by cash the business actually generates, with a raise habit behind it.
Dividend yield
0.4%
Per share (latest FY)
$2.10
Total paid (latest FY)
$5.32B
History on record
2 years
dividend uses 12% of free cash flow
9% of net income paid out
total dividends increased 1 year in a row
no cuts in the last 2 years on record
Coverage uses the latest fiscal year as filed with the SEC; the streak counts total dollars paid (per-share figures can carry split artifacts). Educational information, not income advice.
P/E
21.51x
P/S
7.59x
P/B
7.63x
EV / EBITDA
18x
Shares trade at roughly 22x trailing earnings (23x forward), 7.6x sales, and 18x EV/EBITDA. That is a reasonable-to-cheap multiple relative to the broader market. Our internal rating is Strong.
A two-stage discounted cash flow on real SEC-filed free cash flow — the intrinsic-value anchor professional analysts triangulate from.
DCF fair value / share
—
Current price
$597.63
Starting FCF (latest 10-K)
$46.11B
Growth, years 1–5
20.0%
Fade to terminal, years 6–10
2.5%
Discount rate
9.0%
Cash flows grow at the stage-1 rate (trailing revenue growth, capped at 20%) for five years, fade to 2.5% by year 10, and continue at that rate forever (Gordon terminal value), all discounted at 9.0%. Small changes in assumptions move the result a lot — treat this as one reference point, not a target price. Educational only, not investment advice.
Where META sits versus its Communication Services sector peers in the S&P 500.
Bands show the middle half (25th–75th percentile) of the 44 Communication Services companies in the S&P 500 — the peer-relative anchor professional comps analysis uses. Context only — not investment advice.
How META stacks up against its Communication Services peers — valuation, profitability, and growth versus the sector median.
In the Communication Services sector (95 S&P 500 companies), META ranks #2 of 95 by our overall rating. It trades at a premium versus the sector on earnings (21.5x P/E vs. 17.1x median) with a higher return on equity (33.2% vs. 14.9%) and faster revenue growth (26.2% vs. 5.3%).
P/E vs sector
21.5x
median 17.1x
ROE vs sector
33.2%
median 14.9%
Growth vs sector
26.2%
median 5.3%
Sector rank
#2
of 95 by rating
Valuation vs. quality map
The sweet spot is upper-left: more profitable (higher ROE) for a lower P/E. Dashed lines mark the sector median.
Peers are the closest Communication Services companies by sub-industry and size. Sector median is across all 95 S&P 500 names in the sector. Educational, not a recommendation.
Project revenue → earnings → price. Edit the assumptions to build your own case.
2030 price target (Base Case)
$0.00 – $0.00
vs. $597.63 today · expected CAGR 11% – 23%
| Metric | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $253.22B | $319.05B | $402.01B | $506.53B | $638.23B |
| Net income | $75.97B | $95.72B | $120.60B | $151.96B | $191.47B |
| EPS | $30.68 | $38.66 | $48.71 | $61.38 | $77.33 |
| Share price (low) | $398.87 | $502.58 | $633.25 | $797.89 | $1,005.34 |
| Share price (high) | $675.01 | $850.51 | $1,071.65 | $1,350.28 | $1,701.35 |
| CAGR (low–high) | -33% / 13% | -8% / 19% | 2% / 21% | 7% / 23% | 11% / 23% |
Educational model on sample fundamentals — not a forecast or investment advice. Outputs are only as good as your assumptions.
- AI recommendation improvements are lifting engagement and ad pricing.
- Industry-leading ~81% gross margins and strong free cash flow.
- Massive, sticky user base with WhatsApp and Reels monetization upside.
- Reality Labs continues to burn tens of billions with uncertain payback.
- Advertising is cyclical and exposed to privacy/regulatory changes.
- Rising AI capex pressures free cash flow.
- Regulatory and privacy restrictions on ad targeting.
- Reality Labs losses and AI capex.
- Platform competition for younger users.
Meta is a cash-generative advertising leader re-rated by AI-driven efficiency. The metric to watch is ad growth versus Reality Labs/AI spend; suited to investors comfortable with founder-controlled capital allocation.
Analyst Ratings
What 71 Wall Street analysts covering META recommend (August 2026). Consensus is a useful sanity check — not a substitute for your own homework.
Latest SEC Filings
META's most recent filings, straight from SEC EDGAR. Annual and quarterly reports are the deep dives; 8-Ks flag material events the moment they happen.
In the Idea Lab
META — frequently asked questions
Is META a good stock to buy?
We don't give buy or sell advice. Our model rates Meta Platforms, Inc. Strong (82/100) based on its growth, profitability, financial health, and valuation — use that as a research starting point and make your own decision.
What is META's rating on The Stocks School?
Meta Platforms, Inc. currently scores 82/100 (Strong) on our transparent model, which weighs real fundamentals: growth, margins, returns on capital, balance-sheet strength, and valuation.
How our ratings work →Where does META's data come from?
Live price data plus real fundamentals and 5-year financials pulled directly from Meta Platforms, Inc.'s SEC filings — refreshed automatically, not hand-entered.
How is the 5-year projection for META calculated?
It's a scenario model: it grows revenue at an assumed rate, applies a profit margin and a valuation multiple, and shows the resulting share-price range. The assumptions are yours to change — it's a tool for thinking, not a prediction.
Is this META analysis financial advice?
No. Everything on this page is educational research, not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell META. Always do your own research and consider a licensed professional.
Data notice. Fundamentals and financial statements are sourced from company filings (SEC EDGAR) and market-data providers; prices and market caps refresh on trading days and may be delayed. Ratings, projections, technical signals, and written summaries are model- or rule-generated for education and may simplify or lag the latest filings.
Not advice. Nothing on this page is investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial professional before investing.