Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney named Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) his top large-cap long idea on July 22, citing AI-driven advertising momentum and an attractive valuation. One week later, Meta’s earnings report disappointed markets, sending shares down roughly 10% in a single trading session. Mahaney reiterated his expectation of outperformance but trimmed his price target from $930 to $820. Meta’s platforms averaged 3.6 billion daily active users in June 2026. Revenue surged 28% year over year to $60.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026, with ad impressions growing 14% year over year. The stock trades at 20 times trailing earnings and 17 times forward earnings, making it the second-cheapest among the Magnificent Seven, with only Alphabet carrying lower multiples. Costs and expenses jumped 55% year over year to $42 billion in the second quarter. Meta raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to between $130 billion and $145 billion, up from a prior low-end estimate of $125 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and executives provided limited updates on frontier AI models, and the firm delayed rollouts including its Avocado system and Muse Spark model. Unlike other hyperscalers, Meta does not operate a business selling computing capacity to third parties. Mahaney argues that AI-enabled improvements in automation, targeting, and conversion will support results, and that mid-20s percent revenue growth and