Social media giant Meta Platforms (META) is seeing strong interest in its Muse AI personal agent. The app has been out for over two weeks, and so far it has topped app store charts, recording 730,000 downloads over about five days after its Sept. 8 launch.
Basically, Muse is having a ChatGPT moment. In fact, in the 13-day post-launch window, Muse’s cumulative downloads topped Claude and Grok. Meta’s agentic AI push is likely gaining traction because, unlike earlier use cases, Muse targets consumers. At its annual Connect event, Meta unveiled the Muse Charm, a small, keychain-sized device for communicating with its Muse AI agent.
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In light of this, Cantor Fitzgerald analysts believe that AI agents like Muse could become the “third S-curve” in AI after AI infrastructure-building and AI models. Analyst Deepak Mathivanan reiterated his “Overweight” rating on META stock after observing Muse's popularity and raised his price target from $680 to $860.
Mathivanan also believes Meta is well-positioned with the “right combination” of model architecture, harness, and user interface to drive further adoption of Muse in an AI personal agent market that could be valued at up to $1 trillion.
Therefore, at this juncture, it might be a wise idea to buy Meta Platforms' stock now, but let's take a closer look.
About Meta Platforms Stock
Meta Platforms, based in Menlo Park, California, operates a global portfolio of social and communication platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, as well as hardware and software products through its Reality Labs division.
The company is shifting its strategic focus from a metaverse-led approach toward an AI-first ecosystem, expanding data-center infrastructure, introducing AI-enabled wearable devices, and building personal and business-focused AI agents, while reducing investments in Reality Labs. Meta has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion.
Investors have shown concerns that its aggressive AI investments will weigh on earnings and cash flow before generating sufficient returns. Over the past 52 weeks, META stock is essentially flat on the price chart, but it is up 14% year-to-date (YTD). The company’s shares reached a 52-week high of $763.90 on Sept. 23 but are down 4% from that level.
Meta’s 14-day relative strength index (RSI) of 70.75 is now in the overbought territory. The selloff has also brought down its valuation. On a forward-adjusted basis, the stock’s non-GAAP PEG ratio of 1.19x is lower than the industry average of 1.27x.
www.barchart.com Mixed Q2 Results as AI Spending Accelerated
For the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Meta’s revenue climbed 28% year-over-year (YoY) to $60.80 billion, driven largely by its Family of Apps segment, whose revenue also increased 28% to $60.37 billion.
However, rising expenses weighed on the company’s profitability. Meta’s costs and expenses surged 55% (faster than its revenue growth) from the year-ago period to $42.03 billion, while capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, totaled $31.08 billion as the company continued to ramp up investments in AI. As a result, quarterly earnings per share declined 13% YoY to $6.18.
Wall Street analysts have mixed feelings about Meta’s future earnings. For the current fiscal year, EPS is projected to decrease 5.9% to $27.93, then grow 23% to $34.36 next fiscal year. Moreover, analysts expect the company’s EPS to decline 11.9% YoY to $6.39 for the current quarter.
Here’s What Analysts Think About META Stock
In addition to Cantor Fitzgerald analysts, several Wall Street analysts have shown a positive stance on Meta’s recent AI push. KeyBanc analysts raised the price target from $780 to $900 while maintaining an “Overweight” rating on the stock. The firm’s analysts said Meta Muse’s strong momentum supports its view that sentiment toward consumer AI is likely to improve, while giving Meta various potential avenues to generate additional revenue growth, as well as its August Social Addiction trial settlement.
BofA Securities analysts reiterated a “Buy” rating and $810 price target on Meta after the company’s Connect 2026 event. Analysts at the firm expect Muse to integrate across Meta’s entire product portfolio. They also noted that adding it to Reality Labs devices could provide functionality the company’s hardware has lacked so far. As the potential monetization benefits came into focus, Jefferies analysts raised the price target on Meta from $710 to $875, citing unprecedented consumer adoption of Muse, its monetization potential, and improving investor sentiment.
META stock has been in the spotlight on Wall Street, with analysts awarding it a consensus “Strong Buy” rating. Of the 54 analysts rating the stock, a majority of 45 analysts have rated it a “Strong Buy,” two analysts suggest a “Moderate Buy,” while seven analysts are playing it safe with a “Hold” rating. The average price target of $786.74 represents a 5% upside from current levels. The Street-high price target of $1,000 indicates a 34% upside.
www.barchart.com On the date of publication, Anushka Dutta did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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