Meta Platforms has clawed back nearly 30% over the past month, outperforming the broader market ahead of its Connect 2026 event on September 23rd, after a summer in which the stock fell 13% in 2026 while the S&P 500 gained more than 10%. The rebound follows a second quarter in which revenue grew 28% to $60.8 billion but earnings of $6.18 per share missed the roughly $7.10 consensus, as capital expenditures hit $31.1 billion, up 57% from the first quarter and consuming about 98% of the company's $31.86 billion in operating cash flow, leaving free cash flow at $784 million. Management narrowed its 2026 capex guidance to $130 billion to $145 billion, nearly double the $72.2 billion spent in 2025, took on another $24.9 billion of debt to bring long-term debt to $83.7 billion, and repurchased zero shares for a second straight quarter after buying back $26.3 billion in 2025. Earlier this month Meta launched Muse, a personal AI agent powered by its Muse Spark family of models, which reached as high as No. 3 in the U.S. App Store on its second day with early usage running roughly ten times that of internal testing cohorts, and JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth wrote that Meta's Superintelligence Lab essentially delivered on its goal of reaching the frontier within a year with Muse Spark 1.3. JPMorgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised its price target to $820 from $640, while advertising revenue grew 27% to $59.4 billion in the second quarter on 14% growth in ad impressions and a 12% increase in average price per ad, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted on the second-quarter call that Meta is receiving offers for its computing capacity at a significant premium to what the company paid for it.
Meta Platforms Inc.JPMorgan upgraded Meta to Overweight and raised its price target to $820 from $640, reframing the capex debate.
JPMorgan Chase & Co