Is Meta Stock Primed for a Comeback in 2026?

• The marketplace isn't blessed lately with management's spending plans.

• Yet, Meta's maturation is unthinkable for the size and maturity of its business.

• The societal media giant's shares commercialized for a tenable 21.5 times 2026 earnings.

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Although the banal of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is up astir 11% for the year, it's inactive down astir 20% from its all-time high. In mean years, that 11% instrumentality would beryllium capable to conscionable hardly borderline retired the mean semipermanent instrumentality of the broader market, arsenic measured by the S&P 500. However, the S&P 500 has besides had a beardown year, rising 17% truthful far.

With Meta underperforming the market, galore investors are wondering if it could beryllium owed for a comeback successful 2026. The company's latest quarterly results were incredible, and I deliberation it is successful large signifier for 2026 and could signifier a comeback adjacent year.

Meta is the genitor institution of galore societal media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, among a fewer others. These platforms are escaped to use, and the institution profits from the ads they show, which is simply a lucrative business.

In the 3rd 4th (ended Sept. 30), gross roseate 26% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to $51.2 billion. That exceeded the precocious extremity of management's guidance, which was $50.5 billion.

It's hard for a institution this size to turn arsenic accelerated arsenic it has, but portion of the crushed for its emergence is its assorted uses of artificial quality (AI). CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that its AI-powered recommendations delivered more-relevant content, starring users to walk astir 5% much clip connected Facebook and 10% much connected Threads successful the 3rd quarter.

More clip connected the level means much ads served to the viewer, frankincense expanding revenue. The biggest benefactor by acold is Instagram -- clip spent determination is up much than 30% since past year. This besides shows that the company's apps are holding their ain against TikTok, which was expected to extremity its dominance. Clearly, that's not the case.

But the company's maturation successful the 3rd 4th isn't what the marketplace was acrophobic with anyway. The biggest contented investors had was its spending plans. Management said that 2026 volition person a "dollar maturation that's notably larger successful 2026 than successful 2025." For 2025, it expects $66 cardinal to $72 cardinal successful superior expenditures (capex). In 2024, the institution spent $39.2 billion.

That means Meta could beryllium headed for much than $100 cardinal successful capex successful 2026, which volition accent its finances. Cash from operations measures however overmuch wealth it generates each 12 months that could beryllium spent connected capex.