Key Takeaways
- Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest liquidated 203,352 Shopify shares valued at $25.1 million from multiple ETFs
- The investment firm acquired 28,106 Meta Platforms shares worth $18.2 million just before its July 29 quarterly report
- Meta’s stock price has surged more than 15% during the last 30 days with a Strong Buy analyst consensus
- Street analysts project Meta’s Q2 revenue to reach $60.22 billion, representing nearly 27% growth year-over-year
- Raymond James boosted Meta’s price target to $850, highlighting its expansion into AI cloud infrastructure
On July 20, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest executed two significant portfolio adjustments, offloading a substantial Shopify position while accumulating Meta Platforms shares just ahead of its upcoming quarterly earnings announcement.
The investment firm disposed of 203,352 Shopify shares across its ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF exchange-traded funds, generating proceeds of $25.1 million. This transaction continues a pattern of Shopify reductions, indicating ARK’s ongoing strategy to decrease exposure to the e-commerce platform provider.
Simultaneously, ARK acquired 28,106 shares of Meta Platforms valued at $18.2 million through the identical three ETFs. The timing of this purchase is notable, occurring mere days before Meta’s scheduled second-quarter 2026 earnings release on July 29.
Meta’s stock has delivered impressive returns, appreciating over 15% throughout the past month. Market participants have reacted enthusiastically to the company’s strategic initiatives to lease artificial intelligence computing capacity to external enterprises and manufacture proprietary chips to reduce operational expenses.
Analyst Community Responds to Meta’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy
Meta is preparing to commence production of its proprietary AI processor, dubbed “Iris,” this September through a collaboration with Broadcom. This initiative represents a component of the company’s comprehensive approach to minimize dependency on third-party hardware suppliers while expanding its AI cloud service offerings.
On July 21, Raymond James analyst Josh Beck elevated his Meta price objective to $850 from the previous $825 target while maintaining a Strong Buy recommendation. Beck highlighted Meta’s potential to monetize its extensive data center infrastructure by providing computing resources to external organizations, establishing an additional revenue channel from its AI capital expenditures.
Bank of America analyst Justin Post reaffirmed a Buy rating accompanied by an $835 price target on July 20. Post anticipates robust advertising demand will propel Q2 performance beyond consensus estimates, projecting revenue of $60.6 billion alongside earnings per share of $7.50.
Post additionally observed that Meta’s workforce reductions implemented in May should enhance profit margins. He identifies Meta’s artificial intelligence capabilities as a catalyst for accelerated advertising revenue and emerging revenue opportunities.
Wall Street’s Q2 Earnings Projections for Meta
BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz maintained a Market Perform rating with a $720 price objective. Pitz acknowledged that Meta’s recent AI product launches and cloud infrastructure plans have mitigated some investor concerns, though he seeks additional transparency regarding the return on these capital investments.
Pitz also identified potential headwinds from regulatory age-verification requirements that could impact Meta’s social media platforms.
Among 40 Wall Street analysts covering the stock, Meta commands a Strong Buy consensus rating, comprising 35 Buy ratings and five Hold ratings issued over the past three months. The consensus price target of $805.98 implies approximately 25% appreciation potential from current trading levels.
The analyst community broadly anticipates Meta will deliver Q2 EPS of $7.19, representing 0.8% growth compared to the prior-year period, alongside revenue of $60.22 billion, marking nearly 27% year-over-year expansion.
In addition to the Meta and Shopify transactions, ARK invested $21.2 million in aerospace company SPCX while divesting holdings in Iridium Communications, Baidu, Advanced Micro Devices, and Robinhood Markets.
Meta’s Q2 2026 earnings report scheduled for July 29 will serve as a critical catalyst for the stock’s near-term performance trajectory.
