70% Gains From Here? Wall Street Pros Expect Exactly That From Meta in 12 Months

70% Gains From Here? Wall Street Pros Expect Exactly That From Meta in 12 Months Alex Sirois Thu, August 6, 2026 at 5:39 PM GMT+2 4 min read META GOOG NVDA GOOG SNAP Quick Read Meta's Q2 EPS missed by 14% and free cash flow collapsed 91%, yet 55 of 62 covering analysts still hold Buy ratings. $META bulls like Rosenblatt's Barton Crockett target $1,000+, built on Llama monetization and AI-driven ad gains, while $GOOGL compounds with less margin damage.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Meta didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today . Meta Platforms ( NASDAQ:META ) trades near $587.

94, while the average Wall Street 12-month price target sits at $768. 58. That works out to an implied upside of roughly 31.

84%. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Meta owns the world's largest social advertising business, and its AI infrastructure buildout has become the dominant narrative on Wall Street. Several bulls anchor 12-month targets above $1,000, delivering roughly 70% in gains from here.

An AI Capex Bill Landed on the Bottom Line Meta's Q2 2026 earnings on July 29 gutted the stock. Diluted EPS came in at $6. 18 against a $7.

2173 consensus, a 14. 42% miss that broke a six-quarter beat streak. Shares dropped as much as 11.

7% within the first hour. Revenue beat at $60. 80 billion versus $60.

29 billion expected, but investors zeroed in on costs. Total expenses jumped 55% to $42. 03 billion, weighed down by $2.

40 billion in legal charges and $1. 18 billion in severance from an 8,000-employee headcount reduction. Operating margin compressed to 31% from 43% from a year earlier, and net income fell 13.

57%. Free cash flow collapsed to $784 million from $8. 55 billion a year earlier, a 91.

31% decline, while capex nearly doubled to $30. 12 billion. Full-year 2026 capex guidance was set at $130 billion to $145 billion to fund AI infrastructure.

Why 62 Analysts Are Sticking With the Bull Case Analyst posture barely moved. Across covering analysts, 55 rate Meta a Buy, 7 rate it Hold, and 0 rate it Sell. The average target of $768.

58 held, with the top of the range extending past $1,000. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Meta didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today .

The bull case rests on advertising. Ad revenue grew 27% YoY to $59. 36 billion, with impressions up 14% and price per ad up 12%.

Family DAP hit 3. 60 billion. Bulls argue the roughly $3.

58 billion in one-time legal and severance charges obscured true earnings power, and Meta guided operating income above 2025 levels despite the capex ramp. Rosenblatt's Barton Crockett anchors targets between $1,015 and $1,117, built on monetizing the Llama ecosystem, higher CPMs from AI-driven ad personalization, and enterprise AI agents. Jefferies' Brent Thill sits at $825 to $910+.

Tigress Financial models $945. CEO Mark Zuckerberg framed it plainly: "AI is accelerating our core business today, powering our next generation of products, and opening the door to entirely new enterprise opportunities. " Story Continues How Alphabet and Snap Stack Up The digital ad group moved unevenly.

Meta absorbed the direct blow while peers weathered the AI capex debate with less scarring. Alphabet ( NASDAQ:GOOGL ) carries a consensus target of $426. 95, with 13 Strong Buy, 45 Buy, 6 Hold, and 0 Sell ratings across 64 analysts.

Revenue grew 24. 2% YoY last quarter, framed as a comparable AI compounder with less margin damage than Meta. Snap ( NYSE:SNAP ) is a different animal.

Its analyst target is $7. 23 against a 50-day moving average near $5. 00, but the rating skew is weaker at 3 Strong Buy, 7 Buy, 29 Hold, 1 Sell, and 2 Strong Sell.

It remains unprofitable with a -4. 87% operating margin. The largest analyst-implied upside sits with Meta once top-of-range targets are considered.

What the Consensus Actually Says Meta trades at $587. 94, roughly 31. 84% below the $768.

58 consensus target. The stock is down 10. 78% year to date and 24.

03% over the past year, while the S&P 500 has traded higher over the same YTD window. Forward P/E sits near 19, below the trailing 22. Covering analyst breakdown: Buy: 55 Hold: 7 Sell: 0 I Lean Bullish, With Eyes Open The bull case works if you believe the $3.

58 billion in one-time charges masked underlying earnings power and that 27% ad growth persists as AI monetization scales. The path back to $768, and toward Crockett's $1,000+, runs through continued ad yield gains, Llama enterprise traction, and operating income holding above 2025. The bear case emerges if you think the $130 billion to $145 billion capex bill produces depreciation drag that swallows ad growth, or if 2026 youth-related litigation produces material losses beyond current reserves.

Free cash flow of $784 million is a thin cushion for spending at this scale. On balance, the setup skews favorable. The ad engine is compounding at 27%, analyst conviction is nearly unanimous, and the earnings bar has been reset lower.

I lean bullish. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Meta didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today .

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