Meta Stock Price Target Maintained at $900 by Citizens on AI Tools

Citizens JMP has reaffirmed its $900 price target for Meta Platforms, maintaining a “Market Outperform” rating based on the company’s growing use of artificial intelligence in advertising. 

The brokerage highlighted Meta’s expanding portfolio of AI-powered tools, including video generation and automated creative solutions that have been adopted by more than 2 million advertisers worldwide.

The update comes as Meta continues to invest heavily in its AI infrastructure and digital ad products, aiming to enhance advertiser performance and engagement across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The reaffirmation by Citizens signals confidence in Meta’s long-term growth potential within a highly competitive AI-driven advertising market.

This follows a broader trend in which analysts have raised or maintained bullish targets on major tech firms benefiting from AI developments, reflecting optimism about continued digital ad spending.

Citizens’ Rationale: Why $900 Still Holds

Citizens JMP maintains the $900 target due to belief that Meta’s advancing AI-driven ad tools will strengthen advertiser returns and scale new ad formats. In their recent note, the firm highlighted the rollout of Vibes, a feed of AI-generated videos within Meta’s AI app, as an important experiment in content monetization. Citizens regards this as aligned with a broader push to embed AI across Meta’s social and ad properties. 

A central argument is based on Meta’s Advantage+ creative AI tools, particularly the video generation feature. Meta says nearly 2 million advertisers are already using that tool. Citizens believes widespread adoption of such tools can lower creative costs, speed up testing, and help advertisers derive more value per ad dollar.

Another rationale relates to Meta’s existing scale and advertiser base. The firm notes Meta’s large and engaged user base across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads gives it a built-in advantage for deploying AI-enhanced ad formats.

Citizens also points to favorable trends in ad pricing. Meta’s internal reports suggest that introducing AI into campaign optimization allows higher ad pricing or improved yield.

Finally, the analyst, Andrew Boone, maintains a “Buy” (or Outperform) rating on the stock, citing a track record of call accuracy, for example, Boone had a success rate of 55.2% and average return of 14.6 % over the past year according to TipRanks data.

Together, these factors: strong advertiser uptake, cost efficiencies, pricing leverage, and scale, form the backbone of Citizens’ confidence in the $900 target.

Meta’s AI Tools & Advertising Strategy

Meta is expanding its artificial intelligence tools in advertising with several new features meant to help advertisers create content more easily and connect with users in richer ways. One of the most recent releases is Vibes, a feed of short-form, AI-generated videos inside the Meta AI app and on the meta.ai website. 

Users can create original videos, remix existing ones by adding music or changing style, or begin from scratch. These videos can be shared on Vibes, via direct messages, or cross-posted to Instagram and Facebook Stories and Reels.

Meta also reports that nearly 2 million advertisers are using its AI-based video generation tools. These tools allow brands to lower costs of producing creative content, experiment with different versions, and work with more diverse ad formats.

The company is also improving its Advantage+ creative suite. That includes features like AI dubbing (for multilingual campaigns), AI-generated music that matches ad content, and persona-based image generation to target different audience segments. These capabilities are designed to help advertisers test faster and optimize ad creative in more ways.

Another part of Meta’s strategy is better sharing across its platforms. AI videos made in Vibes can be remixed or shared in Instagram or Facebook, helping content move across Meta’s family of apps. This cross-platform sharing gives Meta flexibility in content distribution and more ways for advertiser content to reach users.

Together these tools signal Meta’s push toward making creative production more accessible to advertisers while trying to build new surfaces for ads in AI-driven content formats like video feeds.

Risks & Market Context

Despite the bullish case, several risks and counterarguments suggest caution may be warranted.

A major risk is advertising market weakness. Meta’s revenue is heavily dependent on ad spending, and if companies tighten budgets in response to economic pressures, the upside from new AI tools may be limited. Bank of America recently cut Meta’s price target citing expected declines in ad spend across the industry.

Another concern is creative and brand integrity. Automated creative tools may erode brand voice or produce content that feels generic. As noted by industry observers, speed and scale of AI generation can come at the expense of oversight, brand safety, and message control.

Ethical, safety and bias issues in AI systems are also serious. Studies have flagged risks in Meta’s AI chatbots failing to handle sensitive content or self-harm disclosures appropriately. Bias and fairness are additional challenges: AI models can embed unwanted biases in ad allocation or targeting decisions.

Privacy and regulation are further pressure points. Meta plans to use users’ interactions with its AI chat tools to influence ad targeting from December 2025, without opt-out availability in many regions. This deep integration of conversational data into ad models may attract regulatory scrutiny, especially in markets with strict data laws.

Finally, competitive and regulatory context is harsh. Meta faces antitrust scrutiny, including in an ongoing U.S. case over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.  If the judge requires divestitures or tighter oversight, Meta’s ad business model could be reshaped.

In sum, while the AI tools open potential opportunities, execution, adoption, oversight, and macro forces will determine whether Meta can meet the high expectations baked into a $900 price target.

Conclusion

Citizens JMP’s decision to maintain its $900 price target underscores continued confidence in Meta’s long-term ability to turn AI adoption into measurable business results. The firm’s optimism rests on evidence that AI tools can improve advertising performance, automate content creation, and open new revenue channels through platforms like Vibes and Messaging Ads.

In the coming quarters, investors will closely watch metrics tied to advertiser uptake, AI-driven ad revenue, and engagement within Meta’s new video and messaging ecosystems. Sustained growth in these areas could validate Citizens’ outlook and support Meta’s stock momentum.

However, success will depend on Meta’s ability to address privacy challenges, maintain brand trust, and balance AI innovation with user experience.

For now, the reaffirmed price target signals that analysts see Meta’s push into AI-powered advertising as more than just a short-term boost. It represents a key part of the company’s evolving strategy to maintain leadership in digital advertising.