Wells Fargo raised its Meta Platforms stock price target to $1,000 from $796 this week. The new target ranks among the highest on Wall Street. Wells Fargo kept its overweight rating. The target implies about 35% upside from Meta's October 6 close of $738.88, according to Google Finance data.
Analyst Ken Gawrelski raised the target for the second time in about two weeks. Gawrelski previously raised the target to $796 from $640 in late September. Gawrelski then cited early demand for Muse, the AI agent Meta released on September 8. CNBC reported that Wells Fargo's latest note expects Meta shares to continue rising on Muse's success.
Meta shares have gained nearly 20% since Muse's launch, compared with a 1.5% rise in the S&P 500. The gains reversed Meta's earlier weakness this year. Fund manager Dan Niles said Meta shares were down about 7% year-to-date on September 7. Meta shares now stand up 11.94% for 2026.
However, Gawrelski expects fiscal 2027 to mark the earnings-per-share trough of the new product cycle. Gawrelski described Muse as the beginning of a new product cycle and compared the cycle with the start of Reels in 2022. Gawrelski said Muse could represent a much larger, AI-driven product cycle. Gawrelski expects earnings estimates to rise steadily after 2027 as the market incorporates AI product revenue.
Other analysts have more conservative price targets. TipRanks data shows an average 12-month target of $806.13 from 46 analysts over the past three months. JPMorgan raised its target to $920 last month. JPMorgan argued that Muse could become the most widely used consumer AI app since ChatGPT. BMO Capital maintains a $580 target and a Hold rating at the low end of the target range.
On October 6, "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer named Meta and Microsoft as examples of the blue-chip AI stocks Cramer favors. Cramer acknowledged that Meta shares stumbled early in 2026. However, Cramer said Mark Zuckerberg and Zuckerberg's team are brilliant and will find a way to make money from Meta's AI spending. Niles said Meta is less appealing after the gains than in September, although Niles still sees momentum.
Gawrelski expects Meta's upcoming earnings commentary to set muted expectations for near-term Muse monetization. The stock's reaction will show whether investors are willing to wait until after 2027.