Key Highlights
- Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest offloaded 203,352 Shopify shares valued at $25.1 million from several ETFs
- The investment firm acquired 28,106 Meta Platforms shares worth $18.2 million before the company’s July 29 earnings announcement
- Meta shares have surged more than 15% in the last 30 days with analysts maintaining a Strong Buy rating
- Analysts project Meta’s second-quarter revenue will reach $60.22 billion, representing a nearly 27% annual increase
- Raymond James upgraded its Meta price forecast to $850, highlighting the company’s expansion into AI cloud infrastructure
On July 20, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest executed a significant portfolio rebalancing, divesting a substantial Shopify position while simultaneously increasing its exposure to Meta Platforms just ahead of the social media giant’s upcoming quarterly results.
The investment firm disposed of 203,352 Shopify shares through its ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF exchange-traded funds, generating proceeds of $25.1 million. This transaction continues a pattern of reducing ARK’s stake in the Canadian e-commerce platform.
Simultaneously, ARK accumulated 28,106 Meta Platforms shares valued at $18.2 million across the same three funds. The timing appears strategic, occurring just nine days before Meta’s scheduled second-quarter 2026 earnings release on July 29.
Meta’s stock price has appreciated over 15% during the past month. The rally has been fueled by investor enthusiasm surrounding the company’s initiatives to lease artificial intelligence computing infrastructure to external clients and manufacture proprietary chips to lower operational expenses.
Wall Street Applauds Meta’s AI Infrastructure Strategy
Meta is preparing to begin manufacturing its proprietary AI processor, dubbed “Iris,” this September through a collaboration with Broadcom. This initiative represents a cornerstone of Meta’s strategy to decrease dependency on third-party hardware suppliers while simultaneously building out AI cloud service capabilities.
On July 21, Raymond James analyst Josh Beck increased his price objective for Meta to $850 from $825 while maintaining his Strong Buy recommendation. Beck highlighted Meta’s potential to monetize its extensive data center infrastructure by offering computing services to enterprise clients, establishing an additional revenue channel from its substantial AI capital expenditures.
Bank of America analyst Justin Post reaffirmed his Buy rating with an $835 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 profitability metrics. He identifies the company’s AI-powered tools as catalysts for both accelerated advertising revenue and emerging income sources.
Analyst Consensus Points to Strong Q2 Performance
BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz maintained his Market Perform rating with a $720 price target. While acknowledging that Meta’s recent AI product releases and cloud infrastructure plans have alleviated some investor concerns, Pitz emphasized the need for additional transparency regarding return on investment from these initiatives.
Pitz also identified potential headwinds from regulatory proposals mandating age-verification systems that could impact Meta’s platform engagement.
Among 40 Wall Street analysts tracking Meta, the stock carries a Strong Buy consensus rating, comprising 35 Buy ratings and five Hold ratings issued over the past three months. The average analyst price target of $805.98 implies approximately 25% upside potential from current trading levels.
The analyst community widely anticipates Meta will deliver Q2 EPS of $7.19, representing a 0.8% increase compared to the prior-year quarter, accompanied by revenue of $60.22 billion, marking a nearly 27% year-over-year growth rate.
Beyond the Meta and Shopify transactions, ARK Invest also acquired $21.2 million in space-focused 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 represents a critical inflection point that will validate or challenge current bullish sentiment surrounding the stock.
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