Meta set to report earnings on Wednesday — what you need to know

Meta has big goals in AI, but can it convince investors to continue supporting its big spending?

The company’s progress in artificial intelligence will be in focus when the social media giant reports third-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, with investors likely watching closely for signs that its investments are paying off.

Meta Platforms (META), which expanded its capex forecasts twice this year to support its data center buildouts and massive compensation packages for poached AI talent, may now face a higher bar to impress with its results.

Bank of America analysts said last week they were calling for $50 billion in revenue driven by ad wins to support Meta spending, slightly above the Street consensus compiled by Visible Alpha of $49.54 billion — which would represent a record.

Meanwhile, the average Meta earnings per share estimate of $6.71 indicates year-over-year growth, but down from the prior quarter. Recent reports of layoffs and hiring freezes could indicate some signs of tension in Meta’s efforts to rein in costs.

Wall Street analysts are overwhelmingly bullish on the social media giant’s stock ahead of the results, with all but one of the 21 analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha calling it a “buy” compared to just one “hold” rating. The average price target near $873 suggests an upside of roughly 18% from Friday’s close.

The stock added more than a quarter of its value in 2025, making it one of the best-performing members of the Magnificent 7, behind Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOGL), Google’s parent company.