How Meta became the hottest stock on Wall Street – and lifted the entire market

Meta's stock surged 11.4% in a single trading day following the launch of its AI assistant Muse, which garnered 600,000 downloads in five days and topped Apple's App Store. Analysts raised the price target to $796, and the surge lifted the entire AI sector, including chipmaker stocks.

Meta's stock surged 11.4% yesterday (Monday) in a single trading day, just two weeks after the launch of its new AI assistant, Muse. The surge completed a 21% increase in the stock's value since the product launch. The enthusiasm stems in part from Wells Fargo raising its price target from $640 to $796, and from the app reaching the top of Apple's App Store with 600,000 downloads in five days. The success lifted the entire AI sector, with chipmaker stocks like Arm, Intel, and AMD also rising. Meta offers Muse for free and via a monthly subscription of $20-100. CEO Zuckerberg explained that the free service is intended to get users accustomed to using the agent. The company, with a user base of about half the world's population, is well-positioned to translate success into revenue. Despite the surge, Meta trades at a P/E ratio of 25, lower than the S&P 500, with expected revenue growth of 26.5% to $254.1 billion. Analysts estimate the stock could reach $1,000 by year-end.