Meta Stock Jumps 3% as Zuckerberg Takes Aim at Amazon’s Cloud Business

TLDR

• META stock rose 3.4% to a one-month high after announcing subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
• Zuckerberg said entering cloud computing is “definitely on the table” if excess data center capacity is available.
• Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus are priced at $3.99/month; Meta AI subscription starts at $7.99/month.
• META is down 3.7% year to date, making it the second-worst performer in the Magnificent Seven.
• Meta raised its 2026 AI capex guidance to $125B–$145B, up from $115B–$135B.

Meta Platforms stock jumped 3.4% to a one-month high on Wednesday, hitting $635.26, before edging slightly lower overnight.

Meta Platforms, Inc., META

The move came after Meta announced subscription plans for its flagship apps and CEO Mark Zuckerberg floated the idea of entering cloud computing.

At the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Zuckerberg said competing with Amazon and Microsoft in cloud is “definitely on the table” if Meta ends up with excess data center capacity.

Earlier that day, Meta rolled out paid subscription tiers. Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus are priced at $3.99 per month. WhatsApp Plus comes in at $2.99 per month.

The company also announced Meta AI subscriptions — $7.99 per month for the basic tier and $19.99 per month for the premium tier.

These moves open a recurring revenue stream outside of advertising, which investors have been watching closely.

AI Spending Keeps Climbing

Meta raised its 2026 AI capital expenditure guidance to between $125 billion and $145 billion, up from a prior range of $115 billion to $135 billion.

That spending push came one week after the company laid off 10% of its 78,000-person workforce.

Meta has also acquired a $14 billion-plus stake in AI startup Scale AI and appointed its co-founder Alexandr Wang to lead the newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs division.

The company has stepped back from its metaverse push. In January, Meta cut over 1,000 employees from Reality Labs and began shutting down Horizon Worlds.

Stock Performance and Analyst Views

Despite Wednesday’s rally, META is still down 3.7% year to date. The Invesco QQQ Trust is up 19% over the same period.

That makes META the second-worst Magnificent Seven performer in 2026, behind only Microsoft.

Analyst coverage remains broadly positive. The stock carries an average “Moderate Buy” rating with a consensus price target of $840.19.

KeyCorp maintained an “overweight” rating with a $760 price target. TD Cowen kept a “buy” rating while trimming its target from $820 to $800. Royal Bank of Canada held its “outperform” rating at $810.

On the institutional side, Odyssey Capital Advisors disclosed a new stake of 1,028 shares worth around $679,000. Headwater Capital boosted its position by 294.7% in the first quarter, now holding 150,000 shares valued at $86.45 million.

Meta reported Q1 EPS of $10.44, well above the $6.67 analyst consensus. Revenue came in at $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.

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