Roth Capital Forecasts Stronger Earnings for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at Roth Capital boosted their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a report issued on Wednesday, April 30th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $6.08 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $5.34. Roth Capital currently has a “Buy” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q3 2025 earnings at $5.79 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.29 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $25.59 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $6.21 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $27.52 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $587.31 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $572.38 and a 200 day moving average of $604.03. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 209,749 shares of company stock valued at $148,089,532 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.