What Is Going on With Meta Platforms Stock on Thursday?
Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ:META) stock gained nearly 2% on Thursday as investors responded positively to the company’s aggressive AI investment plans and a broader risk-on move in large-cap growth stocks, with the Communication Services sector up 1.40% and the S&P 500 gaining 0.74%.
Meta Steps Up AI Infrastructure Investment
Meta plans to spend between $130 billion and $145 billion on capital expenditures in 2026 as it expands data centers and other infrastructure to support its AI ambitions. The company spent $31.1 billion on capital expenditures in the second quarter alone.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has positioned the investment around Meta’s push to bring "personal superintelligence" to consumers, while the company continues to use the scale of its platforms as a key distribution advantage. Meta’s Family of Apps reached 3.6 billion daily active people in June.
Meta has also expanded its AI model lineup. The company recently released Muse Glimmer, a smaller model designed to run on a personal computer with a single graphics card, and said a more advanced Muse Spark 1.2 model is "coming soon."
Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price forecast of $767.42. Recent analyst moves include:
- UBS: Buy (Lowers Forecast to $715.00) (July 30)
- Baird: Outperform (Lowers Forecast to $750.00) (July 30)
- Goldman Sachs: Buy (Lowers Forecast to $725.00) (July 30)
Top ETF Exposure
- Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF (NYSE:IGPT): 7.49% Weight
- Natixis Loomis Sayles Focused Growth ETF (NYSE:LSGR): 7.99% Weight
- Invesco Nasdaq Internet ETF (NASDAQ:PNQI): 7.66% Weight
Significance: Because META carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock.
Price Action
META Stock Price Activity: Meta Platforms shares were up 1.78% at $589.13 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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