Meta Stock Achieves Another Price Target Hike Following AI and Metaverse Event

Metaplatforms (META) stock received another price target increase on Monday following last week's Connect conference. Analysts at Monness, Crespi and Hardt are optimistic about Facebook parent company's artificial intelligence and augmented reality innovations.

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Monness, Crespi, Hardt analyst Brian White increased his price target for the Meta share from 570 to 620 and reiterated his buy recommendation in a note to clients. White is among several analysts who raised their targets following Meta's Connect developer conference last week.

At the event, White wrote, Meta presented “a range of AI and Metaverse innovations that we believe will lead to more engaging experiences for users, open up new opportunities for advertisers, attract more developers to the platform, and expand the reach of the “The meta universe will expand.” and the relevance of smaller platforms will increasingly decrease.”

On the stock market today, Meta gained almost 1% and closed at 572.44. Meta stock is near the top of a 5% buy range from a 542.81 consolidation pattern buy point identified by MarketSurge.

Orion Preview “The Most Fascinating” by Connect

Monness, Crespi and Hardt's price target implies an upside of about 9% from Meta's closing price on Friday. According to White, Meta is “well-positioned to capitalize on the digital advertising trend, expand the reach of its platform, innovate with AI and leverage a leaner cost structure.”

On the other hand, Meta faces risks from regulatory scrutiny, White added. “And we believe the darkest days of this economic quagmire lie ahead,” the note said.

At Meta Connect, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a lower-cost Quest 3S virtual reality headset, as well as new celebrity voices and other updates to the Meta AI chatbot. Zuckerberg also said that the Meta AI chatbot has surpassed the 500 million mark per month.

The most fascinating part of the event, White wrote on Monday, was Zuckerberg's preview of Meta's Orion augmented reality glasses. Although the glasses are still an internal prototype, they feature holographic displays that project the virtual world into the user's surroundings.

“Meta has been working on holographic AR glasses for almost a decade,” White wrote to customers. “In our view, Orion is a leap forward in the world of AR glasses and offers a glimpse into the future of Meta.”

Analysts raise price targets for Meta stocks

According to FactSet, the 68 analysts who follow Meta hold an average price target of 581.80 as of Monday. That's up from the average of 570.87 at the start of September.

Last week, JPMorgan analysts raised their meta stock target to 640 from 610. Additionally, analysts at BofA Securities increased their price target to 630 from 563.

And Rosenblatt analysts on Thursday set a Wall Street high price target of 811 for Meta stock, up from 642. Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett wrote that the target reflects the view that Meta should trade at a higher multiple of its earnings , similar to Apple (AAPL).

“It was highlighted at Meta's Connect that Meta's willingness to lose more money than any other VR/AR and Metaverse competitor and its ability to make effective price-performance decisions uniquely delivers product categories that are considered adoption could be a leader in the consumer market,” Crockett wrote. “The event also demonstrated how Meta continues to develop its AI capabilities.”

Meta stock is near the top of the buy zone

Monday's action puts Meta stock near the top of a 5% buy range from a 542.81 consolidation pattern buy point identified by MarketSurge.

Meta shares have now gained more than 60% this year. There are only rally trails Nvidia (NVDA) for the best performance among Magnificent Seven stocks.

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