Below: what to watch in the report, how Meta Platforms, Inc. has done against analyst estimates in recent quarters, and how the stock has tended to move around earnings.
The chart below tracks META's daily closing price from April 22, 2026 to Oct. 16, 2026. Over that stretch it is up 5.3%, from $673.65 to $709.33, with a high of $777.59 on Sept. 24, 2026 and a low of $538.65 on July 30, 2026. Each red circle marks a week in which company insiders sold shares on the open market (22 weeks in this period; bigger circles mean more money). There are no green diamonds: no insider bought on the open market in this window.
META share price and insider trades
Daily closing price, Apr 22, 2026 to Oct 16, 2026 · dots are open-market trades by company insiders (SEC Form 4), one per week
Latest
$709.33
Oct 16, 2026
Change
▲ +5.3%
since Apr 22, 2026
High
$777.59
Sep 24, 2026
Low
$538.65
Jul 30, 2026
Share price Insider sales: $127.5M in 31 trades Insider buys: noneBigger dot = more money. Hover a dot or the line for details.
META earnings: last four quarters
The table below shows META earnings. Sept. 30, 2025 has the highest surprise (+6.2%) and June 30, 2026 the lowest (-16.0%).
Quarter
EPS reported
EPS expected
Surprise
2026-06-30
6.18
7.3594
-16.0%
2026-03-31
7.31
6.923
+5.6%
2025-12-31
8.88
8.3992
+5.7%
2025-09-30
7.25
6.8245
+6.2%
What to watch in the report
Revenue over the last 12 months: $228.2 billion (+27.7% year over year, trend steady). Net margin: 29.8%.
Also worth knowing about META
The stock ended Oct. 16, 2026 at $709.33; the five-day change is down 1.3%.
Insiders sold $102.7 million over 90 days and bought none on the open market; sales are often routine (taxes, pre-planned plans).
Dilution risk: low (10/100). Share count down 0.2% over a year.
“AI is accelerating our core business today, powering our next generation of products, and opening the door to entirely new enterprise opportunities”
— Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO · SEC filing
From the company's earnings release filed with the SEC on 2026-07-29 (Form 8-K).
What would change the picture for META
These are the specific events and levels to watch. None of them is a prediction.
The Oct. 21, 2026 earnings report (3 days away). Meta Platforms, Inc. beat estimates in 3 of the last 4 quarters (average surprise +0.4%); a miss would break that pattern.
Insider buying: none on the open market in 90 days. A purchase by an executive or director would be the first in at least three months, and it would show up on SEC Form 4 within two business days.
Analyst ratings: the average score moved from 4.18 to 4.15 over three months (on a scale where 5 is strong buy and 1 is strong sell). A run of downgrades after earnings usually shows up here first.
Price levels: a close above $777.59 would be a new 52-week high, 9.6% above the latest close of $709.33; a close below $524.88 would be a new 52-week low, 26.0% below it.
Growth: revenue rose 27.7% year over year in the quarter ending Jun 2026 (trend: steady). At a P/E of 26.7, a slowdown would matter more than at a lower multiple.
New shares: dilution risk is low now. A new shelf registration (S-3) or a prospectus supplement (424B) for an offering would raise it.
How META compares with its peers
Over the past month META ranks 2 of 5 in this group (+4.0%); the best was MSFT (+6.3%) and the weakest GOOGL (-1.9%).
META's P/E of 26.7 is above the peers' median of 24.8, so investors pay more for each dollar of its profit, usually for faster expected growth.
Stock
Close
1 month
3 months
From 52-wk high
P/E
Price/sales
Revenue growth
META
$709.33
+4.0%
+9.9%
-8.8%
26.7
7.97
+27.7%
AAPL
$343.46
+1.9%
+5.3%
0.0%
39.4
10.74
+14.2%
MSFT
$529.05
+6.3%
+31.8%
-2.6%
29.5
11.84
+17.8%
GOOGL
$340.59
-1.9%
-3.2%
-15.3%
17.1
9.4
+20.1%
AMZN
$250.0
-0.5%
0.0%
-12.0%
20.1
3.48
+15.8%
META history: what happened after similar moves
Since 2023, META fell 10% or more in a month 10 times (separate episodes, not counting the current one). Three months later it was higher in 7 of 9 cases; the median change was +7.2%.
Past moves don't predict the next one; they show how volatile the stock has been.
Month ending
Move in that month
1 month later
3 months later
2025-10-31
-10.8%
-0.2%
+6.8%
2026-03-02
-11.5%
-12.4%
-8.0%
2026-03-31
-12.4%
+7.0%
+7.2%
2026-05-18
-11.2%
-7.1%
-11.0%
2026-06-25
-11.3%
+9.4%
+43.3%
2026-08-10
-11.1%
+9.9%
not yet
The bottom line
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is expected to report earnings on Oct. 21, 2026, 3 days from now (after market close).
Questions people also ask
What is META's 52-week high and low?
Over the past year META closed as high as $777.59 and as low as $524.88. At $709.33 (Oct. 16, 2026) it is down 8.8% from the high and 35.1% above the low.
Do analysts think META is a buy?
62 of the 71 analysts who cover Meta Platforms, Inc. rate it a buy or strong buy, for a consensus of Buy. Ratings describe analysts' views, not a guarantee, and they change after earnings. More →
Does META pay a dividend?
Yes: $2.10 per share over the last 12 months, about 0.3% at today's price.
Is Meta Platforms, Inc. issuing new shares?
Dilution risk reads low (10/100); the share count fell 0.2% in a year.
Are META insiders buying or selling?
Insiders sold $102.7 million of META on the open market in 90 days and bought none. Sales are often routine (taxes, diversification, pre-planned plans); purchases with their own money are the stronger signal.
Who is the largest shareholder of META?
Among investment managers that file Form 13F, BlackRock Inc. reported the largest META position ($97.7 billion). 5055 institutions reported holding META for Q2 2026.
Dates to watch for META
Insider trades can come any day: they must be filed on Form 4 within two business days.
Date
Event
Why it matters
Wed Oct 21, 2026
Meta Platforms, Inc. earnings
Results and guidance; the biggest scheduled event for the stock.
Wed Oct 28, 2026
MSFT earnings
A read-through for META: results from a peer often move the group.
Wed Oct 28, 2026
GOOGL earnings
A read-through for META: results from a peer often move the group.
Wed Oct 28, 2026
Federal Reserve rate decision
Market odds: 85% hold, 1% cut, 14% hike.
Mon Nov 2, 2026
AAPL earnings
A read-through for META: results from a peer often move the group.
Mon Nov 16, 2026
13F filing deadline
Funds disclose what they held on 2026-09-30, including META.
Fri Nov 20, 2026
Monthly options expiration
Often heavier trading and bigger swings in widely traded stocks.
Key terms on this page
P/E ratio
Price divided by the last 12 months of earnings per share. A P/E of 20 means investors pay $20 for each $1 of yearly profit. It is only defined when the company is profitable.
Form 4
The SEC form a company's officers, directors and 10% owners must file within two business days of buying or selling its stock.
Open-market trade
A purchase or sale on the exchange at the market price, paid with the insider's own money (code P or S on Form 4), as opposed to option exercises, grants or gifts.
Form 13F
A quarterly SEC report listing the U.S. stock holdings of every investment manager with more than $100 million. It is due 45 days after each quarter ends, so it shows positions with a delay.
Dilution
When a company issues new shares, each existing share owns a smaller piece of the company. Common sources: stock offerings, convertible debt and large stock-based pay.
Form 8-K
The SEC form for material events between quarterly reports: earnings releases, deals, executive changes, stock offerings and similar news.
52-week high / low
The highest and lowest daily closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days).
Where these numbers come from
Every number on this page is computed from the data when the page is refreshed (usually daily); nothing is typed in by hand. This is information, not investment advice.
Price: daily closing prices through Oct. 16, 2026; changes use 5, 21 and 63 trading days; the 52-week range uses the last 252 closes.
Insider trades: SEC Form 4 filings for the last 90 days, counting only open-market purchases (code P) and sales (code S); option exercises, grants, gifts and filings with data errors are left out.
Analyst ratings: counts of current ratings from 71 analysts, compared with three months ago.
Earnings dates and estimates: a market-data calendar; reported vs expected EPS for the last 4 quarters.
Valuation and growth: revenue, earnings, margins and share counts from the company's SEC filings (XBRL data, latest quarter Jun 2026); P/E and price/sales use the latest close.
Fund ownership: SEC Form 13F filings for Q2 2026.
Dilution: share-count changes and offering-related SEC filings (shelf registrations, prospectus supplements, convertible notes) over two years, scored 0-100.
History: 21-trading-day moves over about three years of daily closes, counted once per episode.
People and companies connected to META
Mark Zuckerberg — founder and CEO of Meta Platforms, Inc..
Public, widely reported roles and business ties as of 2026-10-17.
In the news
2026-10-16 · Anthropic: Revenue per employee 2x-4x its peers, Meta and Google. META GOOGL.
2026-10-16 · Netflix, Tesla Headline Busy Earnings Calendar; Spending Plans Key To Meta's Report.
2026-10-16 · Meta, Tesla, SpaceX Take Center Stage As Earnings Season Kicks Into High Gear. Everything You Need To Know.
2026-10-15 · Meta releases an OpenAI model, keeps most advanced tech closed META.
2026-10-13 · Cathie Wood sells Meta shares after Zuckerberg's big AI launch.
Short summaries of recent market headlines about these companies, their leaders and partners; not verified by CapitalSnitch.
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How this article was made: it was generated from SEC filings and market data with automated tools and is published under Dean Holloway's editorial responsibility. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.
Sources: SEC EDGAR (Form 4, 8-K/6-K, prospectuses, XBRL share counts) and daily closing prices. Insider sales are often routine (taxes, diversification, pre-planned 10b5-1 plans). Not investment advice.
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