Bill Gates called Meta’s Muse agent “the first truly great consumer AI product,” a day after Meta reported third-quarter revenue up 26% to $64.6 billion. Over a quarter of Muse’s active users already shop with it, at an average purchase above $200. Muse is free for most people, and Meta plans to charge businesses commission fees on transactions and charge power users for advanced models. Rivals are moving quickly: Anthropic has launched Claude Duet, and an Alphabet agent is expected. Meta plans capex of $135 billion to $145 billion this year, and its third-quarter free cash flow turned negative at $2.12 billion. At 21x forward earnings, in line with its five-year average, the stock does not appear to price in much success for Muse.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
Keywords
METAartificial intelligenceearningsvaluation
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related tickers and likely impact
META
▲ Likely positiveMeta Platforms
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $1.7T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 642.26 |
| Change that session | -1.02% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
- Meta Stock Fell 7% in a Day After a Revenue Beat. Time to Sell or Load Up?
Meta fell 6.98% on Oct. 22 and 0.96% on Oct. 23 to close at $642.62, even though third-quarter revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, above the $63.4 billion estimate. Its fourth-quarter guidance of $73 billion to $76 billion was also above consensus, but capital expenditures reached $34.9 billion and free cash flow was negative. GAAP operating income fell 37% to $13 billion because of a $9.9 billion charge tied to a multistate attorneys general agreement. Meta said its Muse AI agent, set up by more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada, could improve cost efficiency more than 10x within a year, and expects new AI businesses to contribute revenue from 2027. The article also notes a $25 billion New Mexico ruling that Meta plans to appeal, and a TIKR mid-case target of about $1,137 that it describes as a scenario, not a forecast.
- Meta Just Burned Cash for the First Time Since Its IPO Year: Wall Street Raised Its Targets Anyway
Meta Platforms grew third-quarter revenue 26% to $64.60 billion and beat its own forecast, but free cash flow turned negative at $2.12 billion, its first dip below zero since the second quarter of 2012, versus $10.63 billion a year earlier. The shift reflects heavy AI spending: capital expenditure including leases reached $34.91 billion, or 54% of revenue. Meta narrowed its 2026 capex outlook to $135–145 billion. Shares fell 6.6% to $651.05 in Thursday’s morning trading, yet six of the seven firms that updated their views raised price targets, with the average $856 target implying about 26% upside from the premarket price. Trade Nation’s David Morrison said there is little clarity over when, or even if, the planned spending will generate a return.
- Is Meta Platforms Stock a Buy as Revenue Continues to Soar?
Meta reported third-quarter revenue up 26% to $64.6 billion, beating the $63.37 billion consensus, and adjusted EPS of $7.40 excluding a large legal settlement, versus $5.75 expected. Advertising revenue rose 26% on a 14% higher average ad price and a 10% increase in impressions, with AI tools improving ad targeting. Reality Labs posted revenue down 6% to $443 million and an operating loss of $4.1 billion, while the new Muse AI agents drew over 10 million users in the U.S. and Canada about a month and a half after launch. Meta forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $73 billion to $76 billion, but free cash flow was negative $2.1 billion in the quarter as capex reached $34.9 billion. The author views the stock as attractively valued, trading at a forward P/E of 19 based on 2027 estimates.
- META Stock In Focus: Morningstar Sees 22% Upside As Meta Muse AI Adoption Boosts Confidence Along With Ad Growth
Morningstar kept an $850 fair value estimate for Meta, implying 22% upside from the last close, after third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion rose 26% year on year. Strong ad growth and early uptake of the Muse AI agent, which has reached 10 million users since launch, boosted confidence in Meta's AI strategy, though rising infrastructure spending pushed the adjusted operating margin down five percentage points to 35%. Management expects next-quarter revenue to grow between 21% and 27%. Analyst Malik Ahmed Khan said Muse could add income through enterprise AI products, leasing spare computing capacity and fees on agent-led purchases, though long-term contributions remain uncertain. He also warned that heavy AI and Reality Labs spending may not pay off and flagged legal and regulatory risks.
- Meta vs. Alphabet: Is GOOGL’s AI Growth Being Overlooked by Investors?
Meta (META) and Alphabet (GOOGL) trade at similar forward P/E ratios of 22.08 and 22.83, despite very different AI bets. Meta's second-quarter revenue rose 28% to $60.8 billion, driven by 14% higher ad impressions and a 12% increase in average price per ad, while daily users grew a more modest 3% to 3.60 billion. Alphabet's Google Cloud revenue rose 82% to $24.8 billion and Google Search and other revenue climbed to $63.3 billion, lifting operating income 30% to $40.8 billion. Meta's expenses rose 55% to $42.0 billion, including $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.18 billion in severance tied to its May 2026 headcount reduction, causing operating income to fall 8% despite strong revenue growth.
- Truist Says $1,000 for Meta. Our Bull Case Goes Higher
Truist has a $1,000 price target on Meta, while the 24/7 Wall St. model sets a 12-month target of $926.32 (21.35% upside from $763.32) and a bull case of $1,065.48. The consensus target of $799 is close to the current share price. Shares rose after Meta unveiled its Muse Wonder AI models, even though Q2 revenue rose 27.96% to $60.80 billion and EPS of $6.18 missed estimates due to $2.40 billion in legal charges and $1.18 billion in severance. The article cites Advantage+ passing a $75 billion annual revenue run rate, but warns that free cash flow fell to $784 million, 2026 capex guidance is $130 to $145 billion, and youth-related U.S. trials could cause material losses; the model’s bear case is $788.65.
Related markets
Latest news
- India’s CoinDCX Confirms $16 Million Loss Days After CEO Called It a ‘False Alarm’
Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX has admitted losing 15.99 million USDT (about $16 million) on Oct. 21 in an incident involving its wallet infrastructure, after an internal process failed to sweep customer deposits out of wallets it had retired following a 2025 hack. The admission reverses CEO Sumit Gupta's earlier claim that the reports were a 'false alarm' and that the wallets had not been breached. The company said it has absorbed the loss itself and that customer funds remain safe. Together with the roughly $44 million hack in July 2025, the exchange's losses across the two incidents now total nearly $60 million.
- Prediction: This Magnificent Seven Stock Could Be a $1 Trillion Opportunity
24/7 Wall St. sets a price target of $423.95 for Alphabet (GOOG), implying 32.17% upside from the prior close of $320.76, and rates the stock 'buy' with 70% confidence, which would add about $1.3 trillion to its $4.05 trillion market cap. Shares are about 21% below their 52-week high of $403.96, even as Q2 revenue rose 24.2% to $119.80 billion, Google Cloud grew 82% with its backlog reaching $514 billion, and its operating margin expanded to 35.6%. The article flags risks including Q2 capex rising 100.14% to $44.92 billion, negative free cash flow of -$5.86 billion, long-term debt rising from $46.5 billion to $98.2 billion, a planned at-the-market program of up to $40 billion that could dilute shareholders, and a $3.5 billion EU fine. Among analysts, 13 rate the stock Strong Buy, 44 Buy, 5 Hold and none Sell, while the bull case is $442.71 and the bear case is $365.73. The author concludes that Alphabet looks undervalued, though the projections depend on continued AI execution, regulatory action and AI spending.
- Stock Market Midday, Oct. 26: Tech Sector Rallies on Anthropic IPO Filing and Cooling Oil Prices
As of 11:31 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.22% at 26,271, the S&P 500 up 0.91% at 7,693 and the Dow up 0.31% at 52,379. Tech stocks rallied after AI developer Anthropic filed for a historic IPO, with reported revenue growth of more than 1,300% year over year in Q2, while slightly lower crude oil prices helped the S&P 500 amid easing global inflation concerns. Surgery Partners soared 46% after confirming it will be acquired for approximately $5.7 billion, and Tesla rose after Barclays analyst Dan Levy upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and raised his target price to $450 from $370. MercadoLibre fell nearly 10% as Brazil's presidential election results weighed on South American equities, while Meta Platforms announced a $95.0 billion fundraising effort for AI infrastructure. Gold rose 0.73% to $4,037.10 and the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.00%.
- Why Grupo Financiero Galicia ADR Crashed Today
Grupo Financiero Galicia ADR (GGAL) fell 7.3% through 11:40 a.m. ET as Latin American stocks sold off. The likely trigger was Brazil's presidential run-off, where incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appears to have beaten Flávio Bolsonaro 51.8% to 48.2%, a result many investors had not expected. Bolsonaro has refused to concede, alleging the government suppressed votes in districts that lean toward him, while Argentine President Javier Milei, per Bloomberg, is the only South American leader not to recognize the result. The article argues the stock is largely insulated from Brazil, since S&P Global Market Intelligence data show 99.9% of its revenue comes from Argentina. It also notes the stock trades at 7.5 times current-year earnings estimates and is expected to double earnings per share over the next two years, and suggests the sell-off may be a good time for investors to act.
- SpaceX strikes $40B GPU leasing deal with private credit players
SpaceX has signed a $40 billion master finance lease to buy Nvidia GPUs supporting its subsidiary xAI and related data center projects, which it described as the largest committed GPU financing to date. Apollo and Goldman Sachs led the committed financing, with Goldman Sachs as structuring agent, and affiliates of BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and KKR also provided financing commitments. Apollo will acquire “Vera Rubin” GPUs and related equipment from Nvidia and lease them to SpaceX in tranches, with lease terms of roughly 5 to 5.25 years, and SpaceX will pay rent equal to 5% of each tranche's financed cost plus a fixed annual rate on the outstanding balance, according to an Oct. 26 8-K filing. The deal exceeds a $36 billion structured notes deal led by Apollo and Blackstone to lease GPUs to Anthropic, and it is expected to close before year-end, with leasing starting in H1 2027. The GPUs will power xAI's Grok and the company's terrestrial compute buildout.
- South Korea lawmakers mull pushing crypto tax implementation to 2029
South Korean government officials are reportedly weighing another delay to the crypto income tax, currently set to take effect on January 1, 2027. According to Newsis, the tax could be pushed to 2029, partly because that is the earliest point at which information on digital asset exchange taxes can be shared with the US. The policy imposes a 22% tax on crypto gains (20% income tax and 2% local tax) for investors earning over 2.5 million Korean won ($1,883) a year, and has been delayed several times since it was proposed in 2020. An official said the government is discussing postponing implementation, while the US is scheduled to join the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework in 2029 and South Korea will start in 2027. The official reportedly noted that the US accounts for nearly half of the virtual asset market.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.