Freedom Capital Markets increased its price objective for Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) to $825.00, up from $800.00, and left its Buy rating intact after reviewing Meta’s fourth-quarter 2025 performance. The move sits alongside a broadly favorable analyst consensus for the stock, where the consensus recommendation stands at 1.31 and individual price targets span from $700 to $1,144 based on InvestingPro data.
In its assessment, Freedom Capital emphasized that Meta outperformed consensus expectations across key metrics in the quarter. The firm cited record-level holiday-season demand and improvements in advertising efficiency driven by AI tools as primary contributors to an acceleration in top-line expansion. Those dynamics are reflected in Meta’s most recent trailing-twelve-month revenue growth of 22.17%, with total revenue reaching $200.97 billion and a reported gross profit margin of 82%.
Despite a marked increase in capital expenditures for AI infrastructure, Meta delivered free cash flow that exceeded market expectations. Management issued upbeat guidance for the first quarter of 2026 and reiterated that absolute operating profit in 2026 will be higher than in 2025. Freedom Capital observed that these profit-growth commitments helped reassure investors that the ramp in capital spending is being managed in a disciplined fashion and is expected to be accretive over time.
The research note did, however, flag a point of caution. Meta Superintelligence Labs - the company’s in-house effort around large language models - remains a potential source of sentiment volatility. Freedom Capital recorded management’s own expressed uncertainty about the roadmap and progress there, and warned that limited visible traction at the Labs could reintroduce investor risk in the future.
On reported results, Meta posted fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $8.88, above the consensus forecast of $8.19 and representing an earnings surprise of 8.42%. Revenue for the quarter was $59.9 billion, beating the anticipated $58.35 billion. These outcomes underpinned the favorable reassessment by Freedom Capital and were central to analysts across the market revisiting their positions on the company’s stock.
Market metrics cited alongside the note show Meta with a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion and trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36. InvestingPro calculations included in the firm’s commentary indicate that Meta trades near its Fair Value. Freedom Capital highlighted that ongoing gains in advertising monetization, supported by AI tooling, together with explicit commitments to profit growth, form the basis for expecting returns from the increased capital investment.
Investors and market participants will be watching how management’s guidance for 2026 translates into actual operating results and whether progress at Meta Superintelligence Labs becomes more visible. For now, Freedom Capital’s upgraded target and maintained Buy rating reflect confidence in the company’s recent operational momentum and the expectation that AI-driven ad improvements will continue to support revenue and profitability.
Key points
- Freedom Capital raised its price target on Meta to $825 from $800 and kept a Buy rating - a move supported by stronger-than-expected Q4 2025 results.
- Meta reported EPS of $8.88 and revenue of $59.9 billion for Q4 2025, both above consensus, with trailing-12-month revenue growth of 22.17% and a gross profit margin of 82%.
- Management offered optimistic Q1 2026 guidance and reconfirmed that absolute operating profit in 2026 will exceed 2025 levels; elevated AI infrastructure capex was offset by higher-than-expected free cash flow.
Sectors impacted: Technology, Digital Advertising, Cloud/Infrastructure.
Risks and uncertainties
- Progress at Meta Superintelligence Labs is uncertain; limited visible traction on the in-house LLM roadmap could reintroduce sentiment risk in the technology sector and among AI investors.
- Higher AI infrastructure capital expenditure, while described as disciplined, carries execution risk if anticipated returns from advertising monetization or efficiency gains do not materialize as planned, affecting cash flow and profitability.
- Valuation considerations - with Meta trading near its calculated Fair Value and a P/E of 29.36, further upside could be sensitive to meeting elevated profit and growth commitments.