How to Buy Meta Stock in 2026

2026.04.30 2026.04.30
How to buy META Facebook stocks

Oleg Tkachenkohttps://www.litefinance.org/blog/authors/oleg-tkachenko/

Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook until 2021) remains one of the world’s largest technology companies. Its ecosystem includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the Reality Labs division, which focuses on VR and AR development.

The company generates most of its revenue from digital advertising. The US and Canada are its core markets. Meta continues to invest in artificial intelligence and the metaverse, while expanding its range of technologies and products.

This review takes a closer look at how to buy META stock and what its future prospects may be.

Major Takeaways

• Meta Platforms (META) is one of the largest IT companies in the world.

• Main products: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Reality Labs.

• Revenue for 2025: about $200.1 billion.

• Primary revenue source: digital advertising.

• Number of employees: around 78,800.

• The company has been paying dividends since 2024.

• META actively conducts share buybacks.

• The stock is listed on NASDAQ.

Meta (Facebook): Overview and History

Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) is a US-based technology company founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. It started as a social network for Harvard students and quickly grew into a global platform with billions of users.

The company expanded aggressively through acquisitions, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. In 2021, Facebook rebranded as Meta and shifted its strategic focus to the metaverse and virtual and augmented reality technologies.

Today, Meta remains one of the leading players in the IT industry. Its main source of revenue is digital advertising, while the company continues to invest heavily in AI, VR, and AR. In 2025, Meta reported revenue of approximately $200.9 billion, up from $164.5 billion in 2024. The workforce reached 78,865 employees.

Why Buy Meta Stock?

Buying META shares can be a profitable investment, but only as part of a diversified portfolio. It makes sense to buy shares when the market hits a bottom and starts to recover.

  The success of Meta Platforms will depend on the following factors:

• Future progress in metaverse development. If investments in new technologies and startup acquisitions do not pay off, or if the products fail to gain positive user acceptance, the company may lose its leading position.

• Performance of competitors. Although Meta Platforms is a leader in the tech sector, it is not entirely accurate to say it is far ahead of its competitors. If Microsoft, Meta, Apple, Google, and other corporations combine their efforts to develop a unified metaverse, it could become a major driver of growth.

• Overall market conditions. If the global and US economies improve, investors will be more willing to buy securities, including Meta shares.

The long-term outlook for the company’s stock remains positive.

How Much Does Meta Stock Cost?

As of 30.04.2026, Meta shares are priced at 606.04 USD.

From a long-term perspective, the price of Meta shares has been rising and reaching new all-time highs. In mid-2017, the shares were trading at around 150 USD. By mid-2021, the share price had doubled, delivering investors more than 25% in annual returns. In September 2021, Meta shares were already trading above 380 USD.

Where and How to Buy Meta Stock?

There are several ways to buy Meta shares: through an exchange, via CFDs, or directly from counterparties.

1. Through a stockbroker: the investor becomes the owner of the shares. Pros: reliability and regulatory protection. Cons: high commissions.

2. Through CFDs (via a Forex broker): the investor profits from price movements without owning the asset. Pros: lower commissions. Cons: higher risks. Before buying, the investor must register with a broker and complete verification.

3. Direct purchases from counterparties are mainly used through purchase agreements by large investors.

How Can an Individual Buy Meta Shares?

It is easier for an individual to buy META shares through an online broker, as transactions on OTC markets or directly with counterparties are usually conducted in volumes of thousands of US dollars or more. First, you need to:

• Carefully review the broker’s trading conditions. Pay attention to the spread, markup, swap, and withdrawal fees. Check for additional costs such as account maintenance fees, clearing services, and taxes.

• Open an account with the selected broker.

• Complete verification and fund the account.

• Download and install the platform or use the web version.

The advantage of CFD trading is that you can open both long and short positions in just a few clicks. The purchased asset is then reflected in your account balance.

How to Trade META Stock CFDs

Meta (Facebook) CFD trading process:

1. To buy the asset, register with your chosen broker and complete verification. If you want to practice on the virtual market with real quotes, try a demo account — no registration is required.

2. Conduct a preliminary analysis:

• Set a timeframe. For example, use the M15-H1 intervals for intraday trading and D1 or higher for long-term trading. 

• Add technical indicators. Try to identify strong support and resistance levels and trend lines on the chart. This will help determine future price movements.

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3. In the right panel, set the trade volume in lots. Open the Trade Closing Conditions tab and specify the Stop Loss and Take Profit levels.

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4. Click “Sell” or “Buy”, depending on your forecast. The platform allows you to set market orders and limit orders.

The open position will be displayed in the bottom panel along with the floating financial result. You can close the position manually at any time.

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META Futures and Options Trading

META futures and options can only be traded through an exchange broker with access to exchanges where Meta Platforms shares are listed. Such brokers usually have complex fee structures, including commissions for transactions, custody, and account statements. CFDs (Contracts for Difference) are therefore more suitable for investors with modest capital.

Although the investor does not become the actual owner of the securities, they profit from price differences.

META Trading Hours

Trading session schedule: from 16:35 to 23:00, Monday to Friday (LiteFinance trading platform time). Learn more about the instrument here.

META stock key data

META Dividends

Meta began paying dividends in February 2024, marking a new stage in its financial policy. By 2025, payouts had already increased, reflecting the company’s growing profits and stable cash flow.

At present, quarterly dividends amount to $0.525 per share (announced in February 2026). For the full year 2024, investors received $2.025 per share, and in 2025, $2.10 per share, a 3.7% increase. The dividend yield remains relatively low, at around 0.31%, which is typical for growth companies.

Upcoming dividend calendar:

 In addition to dividends, Meta actively conducts share buybacks.

Major META Shareholders

Meta’s shareholder structure has changed significantly over time: the share of early investors has declined, while institutional funds have taken on a leading role. The company’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, remains the largest shareholder and retains control over the business.

Largest Meta shareholders (as of the end of 2025):

• Mark Zuckerberg, about 13.5%.

• The Vanguard Group, about 8.8%.

• BlackRock, about 7.7%.

• Fidelity Investments, about 6.3%.

• State Street Corporation, about 4%.

• JPMorgan Chase, about 2.4%.

Early investors such as Yuri Milner, Sean Parker, and Peter Thiel are no longer among the company's largest shareholders.

Factors Affecting META Quotes

META quotes depend on macroeconomic and internal factors.

Macroeconomic factors

• Overall economic growth in the United States and globally. A decline in unemployment, GDP growth, and improvements in other statistical indicators push the entire stock market up. When the statistics are negative, the market declines.

• Geopolitical factors. Trade wars, pandemics, sanctions, and administrative restrictions in certain jurisdictions negatively affect quotes.

• Government support for the industry, startup acquisitions, and entry into new markets have a positive effect on quotes.

• Competitors’ actions. For example, changes to Apple’s privacy policy in iOS 15 led to a decline in Meta’s ad revenue. 

Internal factors

• Financial performance (quarterly and annual). Revenue growth pushes quotes up.

• Corporate conflicts and platform issues, such as hacks and user data leaks, have a negative impact on quotes.

Each factor can have a different degree of influence at different times. A forecast should take into account as many fundamental factors as possible and assess their strength. For example, positive financial results may be offset by overall market stagnation.

Prospects for Investing in META

After the rebranding in the fall of 2021, the corporation shifted its focus to the metaverse sector. According to analysts, metaverses may eventually replace the Internet as we know it by integrating virtual worlds into real life. META (Facebook) is actively working in this direction. In February 2022, it rebranded Oculus, the company specializing in hardware and software development for virtual and mixed reality. The brand is now known as Meta Quest.

The promising outlook for the metaverse is also confirmed by the interest of other major tech corporations, including Microsoft, Tencent, NVIDIA, Epic Games, and Amazon. So, if META does not abandon its plans and can withstand competition or merge with other developers, the corporation’s stock may reach new all-time highs in the long term.

META is one of the world’s five largest tech companies and continues to develop its other products. This means that the company’s shares may grow along with the NASDAQ index. As practice shows, despite local corrections and global crises, the index usually rises over time.

Key Points to Consider Before Buying META Stock

Before buying Meta shares, it is important to consider both the company’s growth potential and the risks involved. Despite its strong position in the IT sector, META’s share price is driven by both external and internal factors.

Key points:

• dependence on the advertising market;

• high volatility in the technology sector;

• major investments in AI and the metaverse;

• the impact of regulation and privacy policies;

• competition from other IT giants.

Pros and Cons of META Stock Trading

Before buying Meta shares, investors should consider both the advantages and disadvantages.

Pros of Trading META Shares

• Competitive advantages. The corporation has repeatedly faced serious challenges, including user data privacy scandals, and has overcome them without major losses. The company has also weathered global crises, each time reaching new all-time highs afterward. Therefore, this asset is well-suited for long-term investment.

• Promising outlook. The corporation maintains a leading position in the communications sector and is developing new business areas. Meta Platforms may become one of the first companies to offer viable solutions for the metaverse, thereby marking a new era in social networks and virtual worlds.

• Low price per share. The CFD contract size is one share. A private investor can buy the asset even without using leverage.

• High liquidity. The asset can be bought or sold quickly in almost any volume with a minimal spread.

Cons of Trading META Shares

• Deep drawdowns. The price can fall by 5-8% in one day.

• High dependence on advertising revenue. As a result, the corporation’s revenue may be volatile, and it may periodically report a decline in net profit.

• Lagging behind competitors. Large corporations have been developing metaverse platforms and equipment for several years, actively cooperating with cryptocurrency startups in this area. Meta Platforms’ main asset is Meta Quest, but it has relatively few key metaverse developments.

Conclusion 

META shares are suitable for long-term investment with a five-year horizon and for short-term trading around major fundamental events, using both long and short positions.

Price chart of META in real time mode