Meta Platforms (META) could offer the “best AI play in the consumer space” this year, Jeffries analysts said Monday as they upped their price target for the social media stock. Meta stock pushed higher in morning trades.
Jefferies analysts set a price target of 715 for Meta stock, up from 675, in a broader 2025 preview for software and cloud infrastructure stocks. Meta is also a top pick among U.S. large capitalization stocks for Jefferies, alongside Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL).
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“We believe Meta has a unique opportunity to introduce Gen AI tools to the almost 4 billion users and more than 200 million businesses across its family of apps,” Jefferies analyst Brent Thill wrote to clients. “Meta has already leveraged AI to boost user engagement and advertiser return-on-investment. We note that Meta is already introducing Gen AI advertiser tools, which, per our checks, are already leading to increases in performance.”
Meta is already outperforming the market, including its 65% gain in 2024. But Thill sees a “pathway” for Meta’s 2025 earnings-per-share to exceed $26 this year and then reach more than $30 EPS in 2026. Meta has not yet reported fourth quarter results for 2024 but analysts are projecting earnings of $22.66 per share for the year, according to FactSet.
Another factor to watch: The large language models that Meta has created and published for developer to work with.
“Meta, with its Llama models, has become a backbone of the open-source community, putting Meta in an excellent position to benefit from its rise,” Thill wrote.
Meta Stock Retakes Buy Point
On the stock market today, Meta stock was up more than 2% at 622.47 in late morning trades. Shares pushed higher into a 5% buy zone above a 602.95 flat base buy point, according to MarketSurge. Shares also pushed higher above Meta’s 21-day moving average.
Meta stock regained the buy point with a 1% gain Friday. Shares added 2.3% on Thursday before that, breaking a short downtrend and rebounding from its 50-day moving average.
Meta is an IBD Leaderboard stock.
The social media stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 95 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The score combines five separate proprietary ratings into one rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
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