Meta Platforms is a trillion-dollar stock once again. Another strong day Wednesday for Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant has Meta stock trading above a $1 trillion market capitalization, according to MarketSmith data.
Meta stock rose more than 1.4% to close at 390.70 on the stock market today. With the action, Meta rejoins a trillion-dollar stock club that includes Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia.
Meta reached a trillion-dollar market cap in 2021, when it was still going by its original name, Facebook. But struggles later that year and in 2022 made its stay in the exclusive stock club a short one.
Meta has gained about 11% during the first month of 2024. Last year, the stock surged 194%. That helped the company dig out of a hole dug by a rough 2022 in which the company's shares lost 64% of their value.
The turnaround for Meta started late in 2022. Meta cut costs as its advertising sales bounced back.
On Friday, shares fully recovered beyond a previous high in late 2021, closing at 384.36. But previous stock buybacks from Meta kept the total market cap for the stock below the 2021 high north of $1 trillion. Meta shares briefly surpassed a $1 trillion market cap in early trading Monday before surrendering those gains.
Meta Stock: Earnings On Deck
Further, Meta stock is on the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks and on the leaders list of the IBD Leaderboard premium stock ideas service
The next test for Zuckerberg and Co. arrives Thursday, Feb. 1. Meta will report fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes that day.
Analysts project that Meta will post a 21% year-over-year sales increase to $38.9 billion for the fourth quarter, according to FactSet. Analysts see earnings rising 175% year over year to $4.84 a share.
For the full year, analysts project Meta's earnings will increase 67% to $14.36 a share, compared with a 37% decrease in 2022.
