We recently published 10 AI Analyst Calls You Should Pay Attention To. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) is one of the stocks analysts were recently talking about.
In January, Jim Cramer said during a program on CNBC that he wanted to own Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) shares because of the company’s AI capabilities. Cramer said at the time that Meta was using AI to improve its ads business. The stock was trading at around $645 as of Cramer’s comments. As of September 22, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) stock price stands at $778, having gained about 30% so far this year.
“I’ve got to tell you, you want to own this stock. New AI capabilities, capex, return on investment really terrific, and first time I’ve finally seen look potential for spend shift from TikTok disruption. I think they are going to be the big winner if it’s shut down or if the president owns it with another entity. They are using AI to be able to develop fabulous ad packages, and I think that if you want to build your business right now, Instagram has never been better. Individuals who want to live their dream, go to Instagram, start it, start your business, you’ll do well.”
Photo by Mohamed Hadji on Unsplash
Can Meta Shares Rise on the Back of AI Spending?
With daily active users of about 3.48 billion, Meta’s huge edge in the AI race is the data and user base it has access to, which is extremely useful for ads targeting and monetization.
In 2024, digital advertising accounted for about 98% of the company’s total revenue. The business is thriving for now. In the June quarter, price per ad rose 9% year over year, reflecting higher returns for advertisers and a favorable supply and demand balance for Meta.
However, an overall slowdown in digital advertising and huge spending from the company could limit the stock’s upside. Between 2014 and 2019, digital advertising rose about 20% annually, but growth is now expected to slow to 9% per year from 2025 through 2030.
Meta is expected to spend about $60 billion to $65 billion in 2025 on capital expenditures to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure. Unlike hardware chip makers like Nvidia, companies like Meta would need to show actual results from their AI spending to unlock more shareholder value in the short term.
First Eagle Global Fund stated the following regarding Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)—the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among other social-media platforms—reported strong revenue and earnings growth during the quarter, driven by increases in both ad impressions and price per ad. The company continued to aggressively invest and hire in AI, even as it develops its core advertising businesses. We believe these results demonstrate Meta’s ability to focus on both profitability and efficiency in conjunction with ongoing investments in the core ad business, the metaverse and other AI applications.”
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of META as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than META and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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