META, previously known as Facebook, is a tech company based in California. With 2.91 billion users, Meta is best known for the development of Facebook, as well as owning Instagram and WhatsApp. The company runs its own payment systems, recently renamed as Meta Pay, as well as taking centre state in virtual reality.
Both exchange rates and share prices fluctuate in real time, so the costs estimated here should be considered as a guide only. They don't factor in spreads, which can be hard to pin down. Always refer to the platform itself for availability and pricing.
Quantity of shares
| Platform | Finder score | Account fee | Min. initial deposit | Trade cost | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4.39 ★★★★★ |
£0 | $100 | £713.17 |
Go to siteCapital at risk
|
 |
3.75 ★★★★★ |
0.12% per year | £0 | £711.42 |
Go to siteCapital at risk
|
 |
4.3 ★★★★★ |
£0 | £0 | £713.17 |
Go to siteCapital at risk
|
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4.2 ★★★★★ |
£0 | £1 | £728.66 |
Go to siteCapital at risk
|
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4.34 ★★★★★ |
0% - 0.25% | £100 | N/A |
Go to siteCapital at risk
|
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4.1 ★★★★★ |
£0 | £0 | N/A |
Read reviewCapital at risk
|
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4.4 ★★★★★ |
£0 | £0 | £713.17 |
Read reviewCapital at risk
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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Buying shares in just one company is generally considered a riskier bet than investing in a range of investments - AKA a "diversified portfolio". Experts generally recommend holding a mix of investments in specific assets and funds. Funds are ready-made portfolios of multiple companies' shares (potentially including Meta Platforms), and the idea is that drops in the value of one constituent company's share price might be offset by rises in others.
Meta Platforms is a major part of the NASDAQ, so it's included in many global funds and investment trusts, as well as tracker-style exchange traded funds (ETFs).
April 24, 2024: Meta stock tumbled after reporting its first quarter earnings even though it beat analyst expectations for profit and revenue. The decline is partly due the amount of cash that's been ploughed into the metaverse and plans to keep spending on artificial intelligence (AI).
April 17, 2024: Meta Platforms on Thursday launched what Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called "the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use." Meta stock gained in Thursday trading, according to Investors.com.
April 8, 2024: Meta has had a positive week and is up by over 7%, leading to increasing investor interest in the stock.
Only you can make the decision on the time to leap... but here's some supporting information and analysis.
Over the last 12 months, Meta Platforms's shares have ranged in value from as little as $229.6064 up to $531.4899. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Meta Platforms's is 1.184. This would suggest that Meta Platforms's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).
Historical closes compared with the last close of $443.29
| 1 week (2024-04-18) | -7.85% |
|---|---|
| 1 month (2024-03-26) | -10.24% |
| 3 months (2024-01-25) | 12.47% |
| 6 months (2023-10-26) | 49.39% |
| 1 year (2023-04-26) | 85.82% |
| 2 years (2022-04-26) | 153.38% |
| 3 years (2021-04-26) | 46.03% |
| 5 years (2019-04-25) | 131.50% |
The gauge below shows real-time ratings that are based on 26 popular indicators such as moving averages, for specific time periods. It's not a recommendation but is simply technical analysis that can form part of your research.
Finder might not agree with the analysis and we take no responsibility. We also give no representations or warranty on the accuracy or completeness of the information provided on this page.
George Sweeney
Meta rebranded from Facebook in October 2021 to reflect the fact that it would be shifting to build the “metaverse”, a virtual world with augmented reality features.
In early February, Meta reported that it hadn’t grown its monthly users, had seen a decline in its profits and that it was expecting no growth in revenue. It estimated that measures from Apple to protect user privacy would cost the company $10 billion in ad revenue (£8.2 billion).
Last November, Meta laid off 13% of its workforce (11,000 employees), saying that it had been a mistake to increase investments so “aggressively”. The company had incorrectly predicted that the surge in e-commerce that it saw during the coronavirus pandemic would continue. Meta faces the same challenges in 2023 as similar tech stocks.
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Valuing a stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge value. Check out the Meta Platforms P/E ratio, PEG ratio and EBITDA
Meta Platforms's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 33x. In other words, Meta Platforms shares trade at around 33x recent earnings.
That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the United States stock markets on average as of November 09, 2023 (20.44). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.
However, Meta Platforms's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the industry or those of similar companies.
Meta Platforms's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.1572. A PEG ratio close to 1 can be interpreted as meaning shares offer reasonable value for the current rate of growth.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Meta Platforms's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
However, it's sensible to consider Meta Platforms's PEG ratio in relation to those of similar companies.
Meta Platforms's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $61.4 billion (£49.1 billion).
The EBITDA is a measure of a Meta Platforms's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
To put that into context you can compare it against similar companies.
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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
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