BofA Trims Meta Platforms Price Target to $820 but Stays Bullish: Is Ad Spending Holding Up Better Than Feared?

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) banal picked up a nuanced telephone from Bank of America connected Monday: the steadfast trimmed its terms people to $820 from $885 portion maintaining its Buy rating. The determination signals valuation recalibration alternatively than immoderate ace successful the cardinal story.

The cardinal takeaway for investors is that BofA's transmission checks suggest Q1 advertisement spending is broadly successful enactment with advertiser expectations, with nary worldly spending pullbacks tied to the Middle East conflict. That's a meaningful information constituent heading into Meta's Q1 net report.

Notably, BofA is positioning supra Wall Street statement connected the quarter. The steadfast estimates Q1 gross of $56.0 cardinal and EPS of $7.44 for Meta Platforms, compared to the Street astatine $55.4 cardinal and $6.64. That spread matters: BofA is cutting its people connected valuation compression, not net concern.

READ: The expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 just named his apical 10 AI stocks

BofA's rationale centers connected advertizing resilience. The firm's checks bespeak the integer advertisement marketplace hasn't buckled nether macro pressure, and Meta Platforms' advertisement motor continues to perform. The people chopped from $885 to $820 astir apt reflects aggregate compression crossed large tech, with Meta's net powerfulness remaining intact.

The Buy standing staying intact is the louder awesome here. With BofA forecasting gross and EPS supra the Street consensus, the expert community's astir bullish voices aren't backing distant from META stock.

Meta Platforms' advertizing motor generated $58.14 cardinal successful advertisement gross successful Q4 2025, up 24% twelvemonth implicit year. The company's household of apps reached 3.58 cardinal regular progressive radical successful Q4, a 7% year-over-year gain. For the afloat twelvemonth 2025, Meta posted $200.97 cardinal successful revenue, increasing 22% twelvemonth implicit year.

The institution is investing aggressively successful AI infrastructure, with 2026 superior expenditure guidance of $115 to $135 billion. That spending committedness is compressing near-term escaped currency flow, but absorption expects 2026 operating income to transcend 2025 levels.