Meta Platforms, Inc.

Meta runs Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, and makes most of its money by selling ads to businesses targeting users on these apps. The company is investing heavily in artificial intelligence to improve recommendations and ad performance. It also has Reality Labs, which develops virtual and augmented reality hardware and software.

Financially, Meta looks very sturdy: it has net cash, can easily afford any debt payments, and is generating a lot of cash after expenses. The main near-term risk is heavy spending on data centers and AI infrastructure, which raises the bar for returns and could pressure cash if ad growth cools. The stock is not cheap with a high forward P/E and rich EV/EBITDA, so expectations are already ambitious. Recent results showed strong revenue growth and high operating margins, though a one-time charge caused a temporary hit to reported EPS, and regulatory and legal risks remain a constant overhang. With an earnings update soon, the balance of strong fundamentals and an expensive valuation points to a balanced, wait-and-see stance.