Meta stock
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Meta stock jumped 5.1% to $699.39 after Wells Fargo raised its target to $796 from $640.
The rally now hinges on Meta Connect 2026 and its Muse AI agent.
Background
Meta reported disappointing second-quarter earnings in July, with earnings missing expectations and revenue guidance weaker than expected. Since then the stock has been lifted by optimism around Muse, Meta's newly launched personal AI agent, and more recently by its custom chips, producing a near 20% rally this month. Analysts have framed the Muse launch as a shift from passive chatbots toward autonomous agents that can complete real-world tasks.
How it unfolded
- Jul 29, 2026Meta reported Q2 earnings of $6.18 per share, missing the $7.22 expected, while revenue of $60.80 billion topped the $60.17 billion estimate; current-quarter revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion came in below the analysts' midpoint of $63.15 billion.
- Sep 11, 2026Meta stock closed at $648.03.
- Sep 16, 2026Citigroup maintained a Buy rating with an $800 target on Meta stock, and Rosenblatt maintained a Buy rating with an $886 target the same day.
- Sep 17, 2026Meta stock closed at $682.31, up about 3.4% year to date and underperforming the S&P 500; Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and $725 price target.
- Sep 19, 2026JPMorgan changed its mind on Meta stock after a major AI breakthrough.
- Sep 20, 2026A brief Facebook and Instagram service disruption affected thousands of users on Sunday and was quickly resolved.
- Sep 21, 2026Meta stock surged 5.1% in morning trading to $699.39 after Wells Fargo raised its price target to $796 from $640 while maintaining an Overweight rating; Meta also announced Petal, described as the first subsea cable with petabit capacity across an ocean, linking the United States and France, and the stock's dividend ex-date passed with a $0.525 per share cash dividend payable September 28.
- Sep 23, 2026Meta Connect 2026 begins with a keynote at 7 p.m. ET led by founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, with the Muse personal AI agent expected to take center stage.
- Oct 28, 2026Q3 2026 earnings report, released after the close.
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- Goldman Sachs said the Muse launch is a critical strategic implication for the industry, describing a fundamental paradigm shift from passive chatbots toward autonomous agents capable of completing real-world tasks, with competition increasingly about platform integrations and distribution rather than model quality alone.
- Bulls
- Wells Fargo raised its price target to $796 from $640 while keeping an Overweight rating, citing meaningful progress in Meta's AI initiatives and revising its valuation multiple upward to 25 times its 2027 earnings per share estimate.
- Support
- Seeking Alpha author David Zanoni wrote that Meta is positioned for long-term growth on catalysts including AI tools, custom chips and subscription services, with a PEG ratio of 1.09 below the sector median.
- Caution
- The same analysis listed risks including intense competition, high capital expenditure and ongoing regulatory scrutiny.