With how well everything is going right now for Meta Platforms (META), you’d think the company wouldn’t need any help. However, the recent passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reminds us of the government’s hand in accelerating Meta’s growth. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 enacted a permanent reduction of the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate, effectively allowing companies like Meta to save billions every year. History is now repeating itself courtesy of the U.S. President.
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Donald Trump’s sweeping legislation is set to expand corporate cost savings, effectively de-risking Meta’s robust capital expenditures in ventures like artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse. Moreover, the savings enable Meta to simultaneously meet investor demands for immediate capital returns via dividends and share repurchase authorizations. The ultimate result of META’s innovations, as well as some corporate fast-tracking, have led to an almighty stock rally pushing META stock up by 353% in three years.
With a solid foundation in ad revenue and increasingly favorable tax provisions, Meta is poised to secure a large chunk in the global AI arms race. This makes me stoutly Bullish on META.
Trump’s Multi-Billion-Dollar Tax Boost
Taxes may not be everyone’s favorite topic, but not so for META investors. Helped by significant tax breaks enacted over the past decade, the U.S. startup has bloomed into a global tech giant. Back in 2017, the TCJA included corporate provisions that reduced the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, significantly reducing Meta’s effective tax rate, or ETR, which also accounts for other tax provisions.
For instance, in 2016, Meta’s ETR was ~18.5%. The TCJA enactment lowered its ETR to 13% in 2018, saving Meta billions of dollars that supplement Meta’s bottom line.
In 2025, Meta expects this rate to range between 12% and 15%. Considering that Meta generates ~$70 billion in annual income before taxes, savings add up quickly. Meta expects that recent legislation will continue to reduce its ETR for the “remainder of the current year and future years.”
While the corporate income tax rate reduction was a permanent feature of TCJA, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act gives mega corporations like Meta even more benefits.
Signed into law on Independence Day, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act now allows businesses to immediately deduct a larger portion of capital expenditures, such as equipment and machinery purchases—up to 40% in the first year—instead of depreciating those assets over time. For Meta, which plans to invest $66–72 billion in infrastructure like data centers, servers, and networks, this change offers meaningful short-term tax benefits and encourages continued investment. The law also introduces a similar accelerated deduction structure for domestic research and development expenses.
Fueling the AI Arms Race and Rewarding Shareholders
Meta’s ability to create free cash flow (operating cash flows less capital expenditures) is paramount in the two-front war it is fighting. The company is pursuing an unprecedented investment campaign in AI infrastructure and executing a robust capital return program.
Meta’s capital expenditures have skyrocketed from just under $14 billion in 2018 to a guided range of $66 billion to $72 billion for 2025. The spending is aimed at building out the data centers, acquiring the servers, and securing advanced chips from suppliers like Nvidia (NVDA) to develop and deploy generative AI models, which could feasibly spur a revenue opportunity one day that exceeds its current ad revenues.
Simultaneously, Meta must be mindful of its investors amid its shopping spree. In this vein, the company is returning billions to investors via its $50 billion capital return program. Programs like these lower the outstanding share count and give investors a larger piece of the pie.
Justifying META’s Premium Valuation
The combination of $46 billion-plus in reliable and high-margin advertising revenue per year, massive investments to spur growth in other markets like AI, and a commitment to capital returns makes META a very attractive stock for a variety of investors.
Key areas of investment include AI development, as Meta established Meta Superintelligence Labs and is advancing towards Llama 4.1 and 4.2 models. The augmented reality space also saw growth, with increased sales of Ray-Ban Meta glasses contributing to the Reality Labs revenue of $370 million.
In my view, it justifies META’s premium valuation, which features a Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of 27.2 versus a sector median of 20.38.
Is META a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
On Wall Street, Meta sports a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 42 Buy, five Hold, and zero Sell ratings in the past three months. META’s average stock price target of $872.50 implies upside potential of 13% over the next 12 months.
Earlier this week, analyst Paul Chew from Phillip Securities assigned a Buy rating to META stock with an accompanying 12-month price target of $830. He is optimistic about Meta’s advertising capabilities, noting “The company’s advertising business has shown robust growth, with a 21% year-over-year increase in revenue, driven by improved ad performance and higher user engagement. This growth is supported by Meta’s investment in AI, which has enhanced ad conversion rates and increased the average price per ad by 9% year-over-year.”
Meta’s Bull Run Puts $1,000 Price Target Within Reach
Meta’s advertising business, now increasingly driven by AI, is performing at its peak. Supportive legislation from a business-friendly President continues to favor Big Tech, carrying significant financial implications for the company. Moreover, strong free cash flow gives Meta a durable, long-term competitive edge. Notably, while the company is making substantial investments, it still shows consideration for shareholder interests—even as its growth initiatives may take time to yield financial returns.
However, key risks remain. Favorable legislation benefits not just Meta but also major competitors like Google (GOOGL), OpenAI, and Microsoft (MSFT). Meta still faces scrutiny around antitrust, data privacy, and content moderation. The long-term viability of its heavy investments in AI and the metaverse—particularly through Reality Labs, which has posted consistent losses—is still uncertain. And with advertising as its primary revenue stream, Meta remains vulnerable to macroeconomic fluctuations.
Despite what the naysayers claim, META stock is in a bullish mood with the $1,000 per share milestone now in sight within the next three years, assuming META’s execution stays on trend while not fumbling its AI projects. Considering the history of strong execution, I don’t see why META can’t continue on its upward track for a while yet.