Thanks for signing up for DividendStocks.com! It's the daily newsletter built for dividend and income investors. Before we can begin sending your daily updates, there’s one quick step left. Please confirm your subscription using the link below so our emails reach your inbox. Click Here to Confirm Your Subscription to DividendStocks.com Here’s a small glimpse of what you’ll get access to: Dividend Stock Ideas — Each newsletter features dividend stocks with high yields, sustainable payouts, and strong growth potential. Ex-Dividend Stocks — Want to capture upcoming dividend payouts? Find out which stocks are going ex-dividend this week. Market News and Events — Stay in the loop on the latest developments impacting popular dividend names like AT&T, Exxon Mobil, IBM, Procter & Gamble, and Verizon. Bonus: As a thank-you for confirming, you’ll also receive a free PDF copy of Automatic Income, our popular guide to building wealth through dividend investing. Let’s get your dividend journey started! Discover Top Income-Generating Stocks Here See you in your inbox soon,
The DividendStocks.com Team P.S. Don’t miss out click here to verify your subscription and secure your daily dividend insights and your free investing guide!
More Reading from MarketBeat Media Meta Platforms Posted Its Fastest Growth Guide in Years—Now What?Submitted by Leo Miller. Published: 2/3/2026. 
Article Highlights - Meta's latest earnings report swayed many investors, as shares rose by a double-digit percentage the next day.
- The company's Q1 2026 guidance implies growth that the company has not seen in years, especially when adjusting for pandemic-driven abnormalities.
- Updated price targets imply +20% upside ahead, with one particularly bullish forecast projecting +50% gains.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) delivered a very strong Q4 2025 earnings report. It surpassed estimates for sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in its Jan. 28 release and showed meaningful underlying improvements across the business. The Magnificent Seven company's outlook was particularly notable. Despite forecasting rapidly rising spending in 2026, Meta projected sales would increase 30% in Q1 2026 — its fastest growth since Q3 2021. Wall Street analysts took notice, with many raising their price targets. Growth at Scale: Putting Meta's 30% Guidance in Context Do you own the worst stock of 2026? [Name + Ticker]
He issued warnings for RNG before it crashed 89%, BYND before it crashed 90%, TDOC before it crashed 84%, and FVRR before it crashed 86%. Now, he's stepping forward to name the popular stock that could go down as one of the worst-performing tickers of the year. It could be the most dangerous stock of 2026. Click here for its name and ticker, 100% free. Meta hasn't generated 30% growth since Q3 2021 — more than four years ago — which helps explain why its guidance is so striking. A deeper look makes the outlook even more impressive. Many companies' 2021 results were influenced by an external factor: the COVID-19 pandemic. With much of the economy disrupted, 2020 was a relatively weak year for many businesses, including Meta. In 2020 Meta's sales grew roughly 22% — at the time its slowest pace since at least 2015. As pent-up demand was unleashed in 2021, sales spiked for many firms, creating easier year-over-year comparisons versus 2020. In short, 2021 growth was unusually high largely because 2020 growth was unusually low. Given that distortion, it's reasonable to evaluate Meta's guidance against pre-pandemic periods. Excluding 2020 and 2021, Meta has not achieved a 30% growth rate since Q4 2018 — roughly seven years ago. That's notable because, as total revenues rise, sustaining high percentage growth becomes increasingly difficult: each incremental dollar has a smaller impact on the larger revenue base. Achieving 30% growth next quarter would put Meta's sales near $55 billion. When Meta posted 30% growth in Q4 2018, revenue was about $16.9 billion. The contrast underscores how much larger Meta's business is today — yet management believes it can generate comparable percentage growth despite a revenue base that is over three times larger. Meta Price Targets Rise, Most Bullish Forecast Pushed Higher The MarketBeat consensus price target on Meta shares sits near $849, implying roughly 20% upside. Looking at price targets updated after Jan. 28 improves the picture: MarketBeat tracked more than 25 analysts who updated their targets after the earnings release, with all but one raising. Among those updates the average target is $870, implying about 23% upside. While not a dramatic divergence, the updates show that analysts have remained generally bullish even as many investors pulled back. The average of price targets updated one week after the company's Q3 2025 earnings was $857, despite the stock having fallen more than 10% during that period. The lowest post-Jan. 28 target tracked by MarketBeat comes from Scotiabank at $700, implying roughly 1% downside versus the stock's Feb. 2 close near $706. The most bullish updated target comes from Rosenblatt Securities. After the Q3 report Rosenblatt had a $1,117 target; it has now raised that to $1,144, implying nearly 62% upside. Historically Conservative Forecasts Provide Potential for Upward Revisions Meta's Q4 report helped win back many investors — shares rose 10.4% the next day — and most on Wall Street remain steady in their conviction about the stock. Notably, the company has beaten sales estimates in each of its last 14 earnings releases. That track record supports the view that the trend can continue and helps justify price targets above the current level. Still, markets will keep a close eye on Meta's spending and will expect the company to deliver on its ambitious growth projections.
| 
