Meta’s $145 Billion Spending Scare Just Opened a Window for Investors. Here’s How High the Stock Could Go.

Wall Street keeps asking Meta Platforms (META) the same question: When will all the AI spending start paying for itself? A fresh note from BNP Paribas offers part of the answer. After meeting with Meta executives, the firm walked away convinced the company has “significant” opportunities to make money from its massive computing power. BNP Paribas maintained an “Outperform” rating on META stock with an $855 price target, considerably higher than Meta’s current share price of around $566.

The more interesting detail, though, is how Meta plans to do it. Management told BNP that selling “intelligence” — meaning AI models, agents, and finished products — is far more profitable than renting out compute. In other words, Meta would rather sell the smart output of its data centers than the data centers' horsepower itself. Renting compute is just a backup plan for Meta, in case its own needs come in lower than expected. As I covered previously, this ties back to Meta’s cloud ambitions. The company has been reportedly building a unit to sell its spare computing power, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called the idea “definitely on the table.”