Loop Capital Backs Meta Over Google For AI Growth – Sees 40% Upside For Stock

According to Loop Capital analyst Rob Sanderson, the Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant is poised to outperform the Magnificent 7.

Meta Platforms’ (META) stock was down more than 1.5% in midday trade on Friday despite getting a bullish price target hike from Loop Capital. 

The firm reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating on the stock and increased its price target to $888 from $695, per TheFly. This represents a potential upside of 40% from current levels.

According to analyst Rob Sanderson, the Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant remains the “best non-hardware” example of a tangible beneficiary of artificial intelligence (AI), and the stock is poised to outperform the Magnificent 7. 

He said that the expectation that the drop in spending intensity from China-based advertisers would flatten Meta’s revenue group was misread. 

“This large spending cohort has backed off (with some geographic reallocation), but AI-driven performance gains across the platform are more than offset,” Sanderson wrote in a note to investors cited by CNBC. The analyst recommended that long-term growth managers move away from Google (GOOG/GOOGL).

Meta’s stock is up 7% this year and has gained more than 33% over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, Google-parent Alphabet’s stock is down 12% this year, and has lost more than 3% over the past 12 months. 

The analyst also cited Meta's increased capital expenditures outlook for 2025, which reflects more investments in artificial intelligence data centers. 

Sanderson added that while the company’s core AI investments have recently been constrained by capacity, new AI data center capacity has begun coming online. 

According to him, Meta’s massive infrastructure investments – larger than any hyper-scale build for internal consumption – allow the company to extend its competitive edge over smaller rivals. 

However, Meta’s stock was weighed down by a report by The Wall Street Journal, claiming that the company is increasingly becoming a cornerstone of the internet fraud economy. 

It accounts for nearly half of all reported scams on Zelle from JPMorgan Chase (JMP) customers between the summers of 2023 and 2025.

The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said that other banks offering Zelle have experienced similarly high fraud claims originating on Meta. 

Zelle is a peer-to-peer payment platform that is owned by several big-wig banks, including JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.

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