Meta Platforms (META) is preparing to release its first display-equipped smart glasses, codenamed “Hypernova,” in September.
The device, expected to launch at around $800, marks a pivotal moment for the company as it pushes beyond Ray-Ban Meta’s camera-and-audio model into true augmented reality.
Meta has already sold more than two million pairs of its Ray-Ban smart glasses, and its dominance in the sector is growing. According to Counterpoint Research, Meta’s share of the global smart glasses market climbed to 73% in the first half of 2025, with shipments surging more than 200% year-over-year. By investing roughly $3.5 billion in eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, Meta has cemented its partnership as it looks to counter a looming challenge from Google’s (GOOG) Android-powered eyewear.
Mark Zuckerberg sees smart glasses as the successor to the smartphone. “Personal devices like glasses that understand our context because they can see what we see, hear what we hear, and interact with us throughout the day will become our primary computing devices,” he wrote in a recent company memo.
Strong Earnings Bolster Investor Confidence
Meta’s latest earnings underscore why the stock continues to hover near the $2 trillion market cap milestone. Second-quarter revenue jumped 22% year over year to $47.5 billion, fueled by an 11% rise in ad impressions and a 9% lift in ad pricing. Operating income soared 38% to $20.4 billion, pushing margins to 43%—among the strongest in Big Tech.
User engagement remains a critical engine, with daily active users across Meta’s family of apps—including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads—hitting 3.48 billion in June, a 6% increase from the prior year.
Looking ahead, management projects third-quarter revenue between $47.5 billion and $50.5 billion, though growth is expected to cool in the fourth quarter due to tough comparisons with 2024. Despite this, analysts remain bullish. Cantor Fitzgerald recently reiterated a Buy rating with a $920 price target, while some others warn about rising costs per employee and ballooning capital expenditures.
Meta’s latest earnings underscore why the stock continues to hover near the $2 trillion market cap milestone. Second-quarter revenue jumped 22% year over year to $47.5 billion, fueled by an 11% rise in ad impressions and a 9% lift in ad pricing. Operating income soared 38% to $20.4 billion, pushing margins to 43%—among the strongest in Big Tech.
User engagement remains a critical engine, with daily active users across Meta’s family of apps—including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads—hitting 3.48 billion in June, a 6% increase from the prior year.
Looking ahead, management projects third-quarter revenue between $47.5 billion and $50.5 billion, though growth is expected to cool in the fourth quarter due to tough comparisons with 2024. Despite this, analysts remain bullish. Cantor Fitzgerald recently reiterated a Buy rating with a $920 price target, while some others warn about rising costs per employee and ballooning capital expenditures.
AI Restructuring: High Costs, High Stakes
Behind the hardware launch lies Meta’s deeper bet: artificial intelligence. The company is undergoing its fourth AI restructuring in six months, dividing its Superintelligence Labs into four units, including a new TBD Lab tasked with developing the next generation of its flagship Llama model.
The overhaul follows an aggressive hiring spree, with Meta poaching researchers from rivals like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, and bringing in high-profile leaders such as former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang. To support this push, Meta is pouring money into infrastructure, with $17 billion spent in Q2 alone and full-year 2025 capital expenditure now guided between $66 billion and $72 billion.
The spending is staggering—Meta has even lined up a $29 billion financing package for a new data center project in Louisiana, as Zuckerberg pledges to spend “hundreds of billions” on AI capacity in the coming years.
Behind the hardware launch lies Meta’s deeper bet: artificial intelligence. The company is undergoing its fourth AI restructuring in six months, dividing its Superintelligence Labs into four units, including a new TBD Lab tasked with developing the next generation of its flagship Llama model.
The overhaul follows an aggressive hiring spree, with Meta poaching researchers from rivals like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, and bringing in high-profile leaders such as former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang. To support this push, Meta is pouring money into infrastructure, with $17 billion spent in Q2 alone and full-year 2025 capital expenditure now guided between $66 billion and $72 billion.
The spending is staggering—Meta has even lined up a $29 billion financing package for a new data center project in Louisiana, as Zuckerberg pledges to spend “hundreds of billions” on AI capacity in the coming years.
The AI Race Heats Up
Meta’s strategy is clear: leverage its advertising dominance to bankroll an ambitious AI hardware and infrastructure buildout. If the upcoming Hypernova smart glasses resonate with consumers, Meta could cement an early lead in wearable AI, positioning itself as the company most likely to define what comes after the smartphone.
For investors, the stakes are equally high. With the stock trading near all-time highs and edging toward a $2 trillion valuation, the success—or failure—of Meta’s next wave of AI devices may determine whether its rally still has room to run.
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