The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Alphabet and NVIDIA

For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – February 19, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Meta Platforms, Inc. META, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL and NVIDIA Corp. NVDA.Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:What’s Behind Meta’s Record Rally? Should We Stay Invested? Meta Platforms, Inc. is a well-known social media company with top apps like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Meta’s shares surged this year mainly due to its focus on artificial intelligence (AI). Now, let’s determine if it’s a good time to stay invested in Meta.Meta Stock Rallies 20 Sessions StraightMeta stock hasn’t finished in the red in any of the trading sessions in February. Instead, the magnificent 7-stock notched 20 successive days of gains on Friday. Meta had only five losing sessions this year and has never had a losing session since Donald Trump became the 47th U.S. President.So far this year, Meta has been the best performer among the magnificent seven stocks, up 25.8%. Meta stock soared to a record high of $736.67 on Friday, a 600% increase from its fall 2022 low when the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to tame 40-year high inflation.Meta to Pour Billions into AIMeta’s clear intention to make a mark in the high-growth potential AI market has bolstered investors’ sentiment and relentlessly helped its stock price scale upward. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that the company intends to spend $60 billion to $65 billion in AI infrastructure and strengthen its position amongst rivals like Microsoft Corp., its partner OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.Meta plans to invest in AI-powered humanoid robots for physical tasks, while Zuckerberg expects Llama 4 to be the most widely used advanced large language model (LLM) this year. The company’s highly personalized AI assistant, Meta AI, is set to assist 1 billion users this year, and a new 2-gigawatt data center in Louisiana is in the works.Meta is one of the primary buyers of NVIDIA Corp.’s chips and aims to have 1.3 million graphics processing units by the end of the year. Meta is intensifying its AI development by replacing underperforming employees and recruiting new talent to lead the AI competition.Consider Keeping Meta Stock?Meta’s AI initiatives, particularly with Llama 4, hold potential for long-term growth due to its agentic capabilities in addressing complex issues for users. Secondly, the company’s AI engineering agent can compete with a mid-level engineer, a ground-breaking innovation that can bolster the stock price. Finally, Meta has over 3.3 billion loyal worldwide users across its apps, surpassing rivals and offering the company a wide moat. This gives Meta a strong position for future stock outperformance.Brokers also assume that the Meta stock will jump, raising the average short-term price target to $743.55 from the last closing price of $736.67 and setting the highest target at $935, an upside of 26.9%.Investors, thus, should continue holding Meta stock for its growth potential and consistent dividend payouts. Meta has a dividend yield of 0.27%. META’s payout ratio presently sits at 8% of earnings. Check Meta Platforms’ dividend history here.Meta currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.See Stocks Free >>Zacks Investment Research800-767-3771 ext. 9339support@zacks.comhttps://www.zacks.comPast performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is among the most innovative financial firms. With a fast-growing customer base (already 50+ million) and a diverse set of cutting edge solutions, this stock is poised for big gains. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks