Key Stats for Meta Stock
- Price change for Meta stock in the last 6 months: -11%
- $META Stock Price as of Aug. 26: $576
- 52-Week High: $791
- $META Stock Price Target: $755
Now Live: Discover how much upside your favorite stocks could have using TIKR’s new Valuation Model (It’s free)>>>
What Happened?
Meta (META) stock jumped 4% after the company reached a major settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general.
The case centered on claims that Meta downplayed the mental health risks that Facebook and Instagram posed to children. The trial began the week before in a federal courthouse in Oakland, California.
The settlement was made public in a court filing on Wednesday. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers approved it later that same day.
As part of the deal, Meta agreed to roll out several changes to its apps. These include daily usage limits for teens, “nighttime blocks” that restrict late-night use, stronger age verification tools to keep out underage users, and new controls for parents.
On the money side, Meta agreed to pay a settlement Bonta’s office set at $17.1 billion, including more than $459 million tied to the older Cambridge Analytica case from 2018.
Meta described the total payment as about $18 billion, spread over 10 years. California alone could receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion. Texas wasn’t part of the group settlement and struck its own separate $1 billion deal.
Of the total payout, participating states will get about $12.7 billion, or 70%, over the next decade. The remaining $5.3 billion is conditional.
States can only collect that portion if YouTube and TikTok agree to similar changes, like time limits and age checks, and if those companies also pay a matching amount, split evenly between them.
Meta says it expects to book roughly $10 billion in legal expenses in Q3 tied to this agreement, a cost that wasn’t previously part of its financial planning.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who helped lead the case alongside AGs from Colorado, New Jersey, and Kentucky, called it a deal that would “make social media less dangerous for our kids.”
He noted the effort involved a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general.
See analysts’ growth forecasts and price targets for Meta stock (It’s free) >>>
What the Market Is Telling Us About Meta Stock
The 4% jump in Meta stock at one point in the day suggests investors are relieved to have this legal overhang resolved, even with a hefty price tag attached.
Removing uncertainty around a high-profile trial, especially one that could have dragged on and produced unpredictable outcomes, often matters more to markets than the settlement cost itself.
The reaction elsewhere in the sector tells a different story.
Snap, also facing pressure from attorneys general over similar issues, saw its stock fall more than 8% on the news, likely amid worries it could face a comparable settlement down the road.
This isn’t Meta’s only recent brush with child-safety litigation.
Earlier in August, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to contribute $567 million to a separate abatement fund, months after a jury there awarded $375 million in damages.
Other cases, including a large multidistrict lawsuit involving school districts, are still working their way through the courts. For now, though, Meta stock investors appear to be treating this settlement as a step toward clearing the company’s legal slate rather than a lingering risk.
Estimate a company’s fair value instantly (Free with TIKR) >>>
How Much Upside Does Meta Stock Have From Here?
With TIKR’s new Valuation Model tool, you can estimate a stock’s potential share price in under a minute.
All it takes is three simple inputs:
- Revenue Growth
- Operating Margins
- Exit P/E Multiple
If you’re not sure what to enter, TIKR automatically fills in each input using analysts’ consensus estimates, giving you a quick, reliable starting point.
From there, TIKR calculates the potential share price and total returns under Bull, Base, and Bear scenarios so you can quickly see whether a stock looks undervalued or overvalued.
See a stock’s true value in under 60 seconds (Free with TIKR) >>>
Looking for New Opportunities?
- See what stocks billionaire investors are buying so you can follow the smart money.
- Analyze stocks in as little as 5 minutes with TIKR’s all-in-one, easy-to-use platform.
- The more rocks you overturn… the more opportunities you’ll uncover. Search 100K+ global stocks, global top investor holdings, and more with TIKR.
Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
