“Wow, Meta’s stock price is still pretty high” (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Meta is clinging to its 7% gain, as the only Big Tech stock that’s up this year

Tesla and Nvidia have led Big Tech lower, but Meta is holding on to some of its 2025 gains after a remarkable 20-day green streak earlier this year.

David Crowther

3/10/25 8:08AM

Last week, the Nasdaq Composite Index finally crossed into correction territory, having dropped more than 10% from its previous peak, as the AI trade reversal, tariff turmoil, and growing concerns about an economic slowdown weighed on markets. Collectively, Big Tech stocks have shed their postelection gains, with all of the BATMMAAN stocks now in the red for 2025... except for Meta.

Though Mark Zuckerberg’s company certainly hasn’t been immune to the sell-off, it still has some precious gains to hold onto, after a 20-day green streak earlier this year.

So why has Meta outperformed?

On the surface, it’s not immediately obvious why the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp managed to outpace its rivals so strongly in the first six weeks of this year. Like its peers, Meta is shelling out insane dollar sums on AI infrastructure, with plans to spend a whopping $65 billion this year, while its VR and AR division (Reality Labs) is still burning cash like there’s no tomorrow. With all of the usual caveats — we never really know why any stock does anything — here are a few possible reasons:

TikTok sale or ban: Though it’s taken a back seat after President Trump signed a 75-day delay via executive order, the potential sale/ban of one of Meta’s chief rivals for American doomscrolling could be propping up the stock. On Sunday, Trump said the US was talking to four different groups about the potential sale of TikTok.
The fundamentals: Meta crushed its earnings, posting Q4 revenue that was up 21% and net income that had risen 49%.
Tariffs: Companies like Amazon, Tesla, Apple, Nvidia, and Broadcom all sell more physical stuff and rely on complicated global supply chains, which could be impacted by the escalating US trade wars. Meta’s core money-spinner remains digital advertising, which might be indirectly affected — advertisers from China might be less likely to buy an Instagram ad if they face tariffs on any goods they sell, for example — but would potentially avoid the direct hit of escalating tariffs.
AI monetization road map: As my colleague Jon Keegan put it, this year is all about hitting a billion Meta AI users. Next year will be all about monetizing them.
Endless efficiency era: Zuckerberg has been ruthlessly focused on keeping his workforce lean, with the company reportedly planning to fire 5% of its workforce this year. Indeed, on a “profit-per-employee” metric, Meta ranked second behind Nvidia.
Political cover: After cozying up to the new administration, investors might be expecting a more favorable regualory landscape over the coming years — with Meta successfully stopping legislation “that would have regulated social media for the first time” in December 2024, per Politico.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

14h

S&P 500 closes at record as tech heavyweights flex (besides Apple)

The Magnificent 7 did the heavy lifting, performing better than any S&P 500 sector ETF on Tuesday.

Matt Phillips

15h

Oracle rips as backlog builds, but company misses on top and bottom lines

Oracle shares shot higher after-hours as the company reported a growing backlog, even though its fiscal Q1 results fell slightly short of expectations. The company reported:

Adjusted earnings per share of $1.47 vs. expectations of $1.48.
Revenue of $14.93 billion vs. expectations of $15.04 billion.

Shares were up 21% in after-hours trading, which is a pretty crazy stock move for a company with a market cap of more than $675 billion.

The market was likely impressed by a giant build in the company’s “remaining performance obligations,” or RPO, which is how the company measures the value of signed cloud computing deals that haven’t yet been reported as revenue. In a statement, CEO Safra Catz said:

“We signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three different customers in Q1. This resulted in RPO contract backlog increasing 359% to $455 billion. It was an astonishing quarter — and demand for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure continues to build. Over the next few months, we expect to sign-up several additional multi-billion-dollar customers and RPO is likely to exceed half-a-trillion dollars.”

Oracle Announces Fiscal Year 2026 First Quarter Financial Results

“We signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three different customers in Q1. This resulted in RPO contract backlog increasing 359% to $455 billion. It was an astonishing quarter — and demand for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure continues to build. Over the next few months, we expect to sign-up several additional multi-billion-dollar customers and RPO is likely to exceed half-a-trillion dollars.”

Matt Phillips

16h

Robinhood rides index inclusion rally to record close

Robinhood Markets notched a new closing high Tuesday, as the crypto, stock, and options brokerage continued to ride a rally set off by the announcement that it would be added to the S&P 500 Index.

(Robinhood Markets Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Robinhood appears to be benefiting from the so-called inclusion effect, a market phenomenon where companies that are added to major market indexes can see a price move as index funds — whose holdings must mirror the membership of the index — rush to buy the stock.

For what it’s worth, it seems like Robinhood will upon entry (effective prior to the market open on September 22) be the top-performing member of the index, as its roughly 220% gain this year is more or less double that of the current leader, Seagate Technology Holdings.

Luke Kawa

16h

GameStop posts impressive Q2 results with big sales beat

Don’t call it a comeback!

GameStop is jumping aftermarket as the video games and collectibles retailer posted an impressive set of second-quarter results.

Net sales: $972 million (estimate $823 million).
Adjusted diluted earnings per share: $0.25 (estimate $0.16).

Note: these consensus estimates, compiled by Bloomberg, are from only two analysts.

The sales beat is particularly noteworthy, as the company had already done an exemplary job of expense control to help protect its bottom line. Revenues were up more than 20% versus the year-ago quarter, the biggest annual jump in sales since the company (and the world) was emerging from the pandemic in 2021.

The options market implies a move of plus or minus about 9.4% on earnings.

For a while, GameStop’s ability to generate positive net income was purely a function of the interest earnings on its substantial cash hoard. But now, GameStop has strung together five consecutive quarters of positive operating cash flows for the first time in its history!

This was the quarter when the company began to act on its bitcoin treasury strategy, raising money through the sale of convertible notes and using some proceeds to purchase the crypto asset.

Because of how much market value has been ascribed to potential for GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen to use its significant cash holdings to transform the company, the prospect of converting cash into bitcoin initially did not sit too well with investors following the announcement of this new strategic push in March.

Shares of the once-upon-a-time meme stock really didn’t get too much love during retail frenzies earlier in the summer, and were down about 25% year to date heading into this release.

As of the close of the quarter, its bitcoin holdings were valued at $528.6 million.

Western Digital Seagate Technology Rise to top of S&P 500

Data storage is so hot right now

A rapid turnaround in profitability helps explain how Seagate Technology and Western Digital have clawed to the top of the S&P 500 this year.

Matt Phillips18h