Top analysts from Jefferies and Canaccord Genuity boosted their price targets for Meta Platforms (META) stock ahead of the social media giant’s Q2 earnings on July 30. While Jefferies’ 5-star analyst Brent Thill raised the price target for META stock from $790 to $845, Canaccord Genuity’s top analyst Maria Ripps increased her price target from $825 to $850. Both top-rated analysts reaffirmed a Buy rating on Meta Platforms stock, reinforcing their confidence in the company’s growth potential.
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These price target hikes came in even as META CEO Mark Zuckerberg faces an $8 billion shareholder lawsuit over accusations of privacy breach.
Meanwhile, Wall Street expects Meta Platforms to report earnings per share (EPS) of $5.84, reflecting a 13.2% year-over-year growth.
Top Jefferies Analyst Is Upbeat About Meta’s Q2 Earnings
Thill raised his Q2 and full-year revenue estimates for Meta Platforms by 3.1% and 2.6%, respectively. The 5-star analyst expects Meta to deliver revenue of $45.2 billion in Q2, suggesting a 15.7% year-over-year growth, which is higher than the Street’s consensus estimate of 14.2%. Additionally, Thill contends that Meta Platforms’ Q3 guidance seems achievable, given easier comparisons and some conservatism in the Street’s estimates.
Meanwhile, Thill believes that Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI and the appointment of Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, as the Chief AI Officer, along with the hiring of many other high-profile researchers, indicate the company’s intention to streamline its AI organization and revamp leadership following the disappointing response to Llama 4. Thill argues that while Meta’s capex is expected to stay elevated and put pressure on its near-term earnings, he remains confident about the long-term return on investment (ROI).
Thill explained that his constructive view is supported by favorable checks on CPM (cost per mille), an increase in time spent as indicated by SensorTower, and other positive metrics. CPM indicates the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand impressions of an ad.
Canaccord Views META Stock as a Top Digital Ad Pick
Ripps stated that META stock remains Canaccord Genuity’s top digital advertising pick. Despite its premium valuation, Ripps continues to like META stock, driven by several tailwinds. The analyst expects the company to report impressive Q2 results, backed by mid-teens year-over-year growth in ad revenue. For Q2, Ripps expects both ad revenue and total revenue to grow by about 14% year-over-year, with the modest sequential deceleration reflecting tariff-related uncertainty.
The analyst expects Meta’s growth to be driven by continued AI-driven improvements to content creation and ad recommendation models. Notably, the company launched a new generative ad recommendation model in Q1 2025, which is twice as efficient at improving ad performance as legacy models.
Looking ahead, Ripps expects the pace of innovation to remain robust at Meta, bolstered by the acquisition of a 49% stake in Scale AI, hiring of OpenAI and Apple (AAPL) researchers, unveiling of Meta Superintelligence labs, and the acquisition of voice AI startup PlayAI. Ripps noted that while META stock is trading near all-time highs, the setup continues to look attractive, particularly as we move into 2026.
Is META a Good Stock to Buy?
Overall, Wall Street is bullish on Meta Platforms stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 41 Buys and four Hold recommendations. The average META stock price target of $737.86 indicates a 5% upside potential. META stock has risen 20% year-to-date.
