Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META), the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is drawing renewed investor attention ahead of its third-quarter report, scheduled for October 21, 2026. The company will release results after the market close and host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, giving investors fresh figures on advertising performance and artificial intelligence spending. Because the release comes after the closing bell, investors' first look at the numbers will fall outside regular trading hours, with the call following the same afternoon. The third quarter covers the July-to-September period. In July, Meta projected third-quarter revenue of between $61 billion and $64 billion, setting the benchmark against which the upcoming report and future guidance will be measured. Advertising generates the bulk of the company's revenue.

Advertising Growth Under Scrutiny

Meta recorded $60.8 billion in second-quarter revenue, an increase of 28% from a year earlier, according to the company's July earnings release, which attributed the gains largely to advertising. Ad impressions rose 14%, while the average price per ad increased 12%. The company also reported that improvements to its ad systems lifted Facebook conversions by 15.7%.

Profitability moved in the opposite direction. Operating income fell 8% as quarterly costs jumped 55% to $42 billion, showing that stronger sales did not translate into higher operating profit. That gap between revenue growth and cost growth sits at the center of what investors will be weighing when the third-quarter figures arrive.

Analyst views capture the resulting tension between growth and spending. Wells Fargo recently raised its price target on Meta to $1,000 while warning that growing AI expenses could weigh on 2027 earnings. The revised outlook points to competing expectations about the company's growth and profitability.

AI Products and Platform Rivalry Shape the Outlook

Meta's Muse AI assistant surpassed 6.6 million downloads within 16 days, according to figures cited by Citi. Analysts are watching whether that early adoption can translate into revenue alongside the company's established advertising business.

Competition with ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, has added another dimension to the outlook. On October 8, Meta barred ByteDance advertising across Facebook and Instagram in seven countries, including the United States. The restrictions also cover outside advertisers whose links direct users to TikTok, a platform that competes with Meta's apps for advertising budgets and user attention. The move lands close to Meta's financial core, where advertising supplies the bulk of revenue and TikTok competes for many of the same advertiser budgets.

Meta has also outlined $130 billion to $145 billion in expected annual capital spending. That budget reflects a broader AI infrastructure spending trend, in which large technology companies are allocating more funds toward computing capacity and data centers. Capital expenditures typically cover servers, data center construction, and network equipment.

Meta Stock Faces $786.31 Resistance

Technical figures supplied by Traders Union place Meta stock above its hourly 20-period and 50-period moving averages, near $729 and $731.82, respectively. The relative strength index, a commonly used momentum gauge, reads 60.29, while other momentum indicators offer mixed signals.

According to Traders Union, $731.96 serves as immediate support, while $786.31 stands as resistance. Support levels mark price zones where buying interest has previously slowed declines, and resistance marks zones where advances have stalled. With the earnings report dated for October 21, those levels give market participants fixed reference points heading into the release. Analyst Anton Kharitonov cautioned against chasing the shares before a confirmed break above resistance, noting instead that a move below support could weaken the current technical setup.

Cost control elsewhere in the technology sector is also in view. Microsoft's plans for custom AI chips show how competitors are trying to rein in computing expenses — a consideration that remains relevant as Meta prepares to discuss its next quarterly results.

This article is based on reporting by Blockonomi: Meta Stock Holds Key Support: Will $786 Break?