Cathie Wood Buys $24.5 Million of $META as Shares Tumble Following Q3 Earnings

On Oct. 22, Cathie Wood's Ark funds bought a total of 38,110 shares of $META, worth about $24.5 million based on the latest trading price of $642.62, according to Ark's daily trading information sent to TheStreet.
The purchase came as $META shares tumbled despite strong earnings. The company reported third-quarter earnings on Oct. 21, beating revenue expectations with $64.6 billion versus the $63.41 billion consensus. Earnings came in at $3.83 per share, below the $5.46 consensus, largely due to a $9.89 billion charge related to a settlement over teen mental health. Excluding that, Meta said earnings would have reached $7.40 per share.
Shares plunged 7% the following day and fell another 1% on Oct. 23, as investors grew concerned about Meta's aggressive spending on AI.
Meta forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $73 billion to $76 billion, compared with Wall Street's estimate of $73.75 billion. It also raised the lower end of its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $135 billion to $145 billion, up from $130 billion to $145 billion, and increased its full-year expense outlook to $175 billion to $179 billion.
Citi analyst Ronald Josey raised his price target on $META to $905 from $895 and maintained a Buy rating, citing the potential of Meta's personal AI agent Muse, which has 10 million sign-ups and 25% returning daily.
Wood said in an Oct. 23 post on X: "For those of us who doubt that 'old-world' companies will thrive in the new world, Meta's third quarter stats were impressive."
Wood has been actively buying $META over the past few weeks, though it is not yet a top 10 holding in the Ark Innovation ETF ($ARKK).
Other buys included $NFLX, $PACB, $FRNM, and $SCTX. She also sold $SHOP, $PLTR, $NET, $GOOG, $RBRK, $CRWD, $XYZ, $RBLX, $P, and $CRCL.