The social media giant is preparing for what could be its biggest transformation yet. On Friday, Barclays (BCS) analyst Ross Sandler, rated 5-star on TipRanks, reiterated his Buy rating on Meta Platforms (META), setting a price target of $800.
With the stock currently trading near $628, this new target suggests a 27.31% upside. The move comes as Wall Street prepares for Meta’s first-quarter earnings report later this month, where the focus will be entirely on how much cash the company is squeezing out of its new AI tools.
The main reason for the bullish outlook is Meta’s massive bet on artificial intelligence. The company has spent the last year completely rewriting the recommendation systems that power Facebook and Instagram.
Today’s report notes that “recommendation systems are being rewritten by large models.” By using more complex AI to predict what you want to see, Meta has seen Instagram Reels watch time jump 30% in the U.S. alone. This isn’t just about keeping people scrolling; it’s about making every second of that time more valuable to advertisers.
Beyond just apps, Barclays is eyeing Meta’s hardware as a potential goldmine. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been vocal about the future of wearable tech, comparing the current state of AI glasses to the early days of mobile phones.
Zuckerberg recently told investors that a future without smart glasses is “unimaginable,” and he believes the industry is currently at a “smartphone moment” where wearable AI will soon replace traditional flip-phone-style tech.
Barclays expects these “personal superintelligence” products to start hitting the market in a big way throughout 2026. While the company plans to spend heavily, with a projected $115–$135 billion in capital expenses this year, analysts believe this infrastructure push is necessary to dominate the next decade of computing.
The final piece of the $800 puzzle is Meta’s ability to turn AI into actual dollars. Barclays noted that Meta is moving from just training big models to actually running them in real-time to help businesses sell products.
Recent data shows that this shift is already working. Instagram conversion rates have climbed over 3% thanks to new AI models, while overall ad quality has improved by 12%. Ross Sandler believes that Meta is successfully building a “scalable engineering system” that ensures every dollar spent on AI eventually comes back as profit.