Meta Platforms’ stock has fallen for nine consecutive sessions in its worst losing streak ever, setting an increasingly bearish tone ahead of the social media giant’s earnings report due after market hours on Wednesday.
Analysts expect the report to show healthy uptake of the company’s digital advertising services, which forms the bulk of its topline. However, as has been the case so far with Big Tech results this season, Meta’s capital expenditure trends will dictate the stock move.
Last week, Alphabet raised its 2026 CapEx forecast, which triggered a fall in its shares and those of fellow Big Tech stocks, even though Alphabet reported record cloud growth.
Meta has forecast $125 billion to $145 billion in capex this year, having already raised that guidance range at its last earnings report, mostly towards AI development and new data centers.
Earlier this week, Meta announced a partnership with BlackRock to develop a $14 billion data center campus in El Paso, Texas. The Facebook and Instagram parent said Tuesday it will invest more than $10 billion in the facility.
Analysts' Expectations From Meta’s Q2 Report
Analysts expect Meta’s second-quarter revenue to rise 27% to $60.29 billion and adjusted profit to increase 1% to $7.40 per share, per Koyfin.
Currently, 55 of 62 analysts recommend ‘Sell’ or higher on META, and the remaining 7 rate it ‘Hold,’ per Koyfin data. Their average price target of $824.68 implies a 40% upside from the stock’s closing price on Tuesday.
Retail View On Meta
On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for META has dipped over the past two weeks and was ‘bearish’ on Wednesday.
“$500 after the ER. Watch and see. CEO has made it clear, capex will increase for years,” a trader , suggesting that the stock would drop 16%.
are down 10% year to date. In comparison, the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ) has risen 9% in this period.
Meta’s report will be published alongside results from Microsoft after the markets close.