Meta Stock Is Down Nearly 10% in 2026. Should You Buy Before July 29 Q2 Earnings?

Quick Read META's 10% year-to-date selloff has created a rare entry into a 22x-P/E compounder generating $43 billion in annual free cash flow. Alphabet's cheaper 17x P/E masks near-zero revenue growth last quarter versus Meta's 33%, while Snap operates at a negative operating margin. Meta has beaten EPS estimates for 6 straight quarters, and prediction markets assign an 87% probability of another beat on July 29.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Meta didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Meta (NASDAQ:META) heads into its July 29 earnings report with its stock falling while the underlying business continues to accelerate.

Shares have declined 7.87% over the past week and 9.68% year to date to $595.

19. 24/7 Wall St. With Meta trading at just 18x forward earnings, the recent pullback could offer an attractive entry point ahead of Q2 earnings.

Meta Trades at 18x Earnings Despite 33% Revenue Growth Meta trades at an 18x forward P/E with an 82% gross margin, a 41.44% operating margin, and a 20.69% ROIC.

Q1 revenue climbed 33.08% to $56.31 billion, ad impressions increased 19%, and average price per ad climbed 12%.

Meanwhile, full-year 2025 free cash flow came in at $43.59 billion, funding $26.25 billion in buybacks alongside a $0.

53 quarterly dividend. Wall Street's consensus price target sits at $826.01, implying 38.

8% upside from the stock's current price of $595.19. Right now, analysts assigned Meta 57 buy ratings, 6 holds, and zero sell ratings.

Paying under 20x earnings for a business generating 20%-plus returns on invested capital feels attractive on a relative-value basis. Meta Has Beaten Earnings 6 Quarters in a Row Meta has beaten EPS estimates in six consecutive quarters, with the last miss dating all the way back to Q3 of 2022. Polymarket traders assign an 87.

1% probability of another beat on July 29, and the full-chain put/call ratio sits at 0.43, with the July 31 expiry at just 0.30.

Institutional positioning is decisively long into the release. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Meta didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Meta Beats Alphabet on Growth Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) trades at a more expensive 25x forward P/E (vs Meta's 18x), but Alphabet's most recent quarterly revenue growth was 24% versus Meta's 33%. There's of course more to consider when comparing the two advertising giants, but Meta stock is cheaper on an earnings basis and is delivering higher top-line growth. Story Continues Can Meta Justify Up to $145 Billion in AI Spending?

The bear case is capex. Meta raised FY2026 capital spending guidance to $125 to $145 billion, sparking execution concerns. However, Meta's Q1 operating cash flow of $32.

23 billion, interest coverage ratio of 71.48x, and cash and securities of $81.2 billion give the business a cushion against the capex spend.

CFO Susan Li confirmed the company retains the flexibility to "bring it online more slowly or reduce our spending in future years" if returns lag. If Q2 results show that AI investments are strengthening ad performance without eroding margins, the recent pullback could prove to be a compelling buying opportunity. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Meta didn't make the cut.

Grab the names FREE today. Contact editorial@247wallst.com for any questions or corrections.

Quick Read META's 10% year-to-date selloff has created a rare entry into a 22x-P/E compounder generating $43 billion in annual free cash flow. Alphabet's cheaper 17x P/E masks near-zero revenue growth last quarter versus Meta's 33%, while Snap operates at a negative operating margin. Meta has beaten EPS estimates for 6 straight quarters, and prediction markets assign an 87% probability of another beat on July 29.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Meta didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Meta (NASDAQ:META) heads into its July 29 earnings report with its stock falling while the underlying business continues to accelerate.

Shares have declined 7.87% over the past week and 9.68% year to date to $595.

19. 24/7 Wall St. With Meta trading at just 18x forward earnings, the recent pullback could offer an attractive entry point ahead of Q2 earnings.

Meta Trades at 18x Earnings Despite 33% Revenue Growth Meta trades at an 18x forward P/E with an 82% gross margin, a 41.44% operating margin, and a 20.69% ROIC.

Q1 revenue climbed 33.08% to $56.31 billion, ad impressions increased 19%, and average price per ad climbed 12%.

Meanwhile, full-year 2025 free cash flow came in at $43.59 billion, funding $26.25 billion in buybacks alongside a $0.

53 quarterly dividend. Wall Street's consensus price target sits at $826.01, implying 38.

8% upside from the stock's current price of $595.19. Right now, analysts assigned Meta 57 buy ratings, 6 holds, and zero sell ratings.

Paying under 20x earnings