Pershing Square Calls Meta’s (META) Business Model “One of the Clearest Beneficiaries of AI Integration” Maham Fatima Thu, November 12, 2026 at 6:31 AM EST 4 min read META -0.49% ^GSPC +1.31% PS 0.00% ^IXIC +1.60% Trade META on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
We just published a list of the 10 Best Growth Stocks to Buy for the Next Decade and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) ranked 6th on this list.
On November 5, the S&P 500 fell 4.36%, its worst day since the April 2025 tariff crash, with roughly $3 trillion in value wiped off S&P 500 companies. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.52% to slip into a correction, and chip stocks took the hardest hit, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling about 12%, its worst day since 2020. The slide followed a rough October, when the technology sector of the S&P 500 lost 6.8%, its biggest monthly drop since March 2025, while defensive groups such as consumer staples had a record month. Growth stocks tend to feel these swings first, because their prices rest on the promise of faster sales and earnings than the rest of the market.
The worry behind the selling is money. Investors are asking how companies will pay for their enormous artificial intelligence budgets and whether the returns will justify them. The midterm election results added a second concern, as investors began questioning whether the pace of data center construction could slow if new rules follow, which would weigh on AI spending. Our ranking of semiconductor stocks to hold for the next decade covers more of the group that took the sharpest hit.
A growth stock is a share in a company expected to grow its sales and earnings faster than the market average. These companies usually reinvest profits instead of paying dividends, so shareholders are rewarded through a rising share price, which is why the shares often carry high price-to-earnings ratios. A high multiple is not automatically expensive if the growth keeps coming, but it leaves little room for disappointment, and a stock priced for strong growth can fall sharply when the numbers fall short. Time helps in the other direction, because returns that stay invested earn returns of their own, a snowball effect that builds the longer the money is left alone.
The economy is adding another variable. October's jobs report showed payrolls up 165,000, far above the 65,000 economists expected, and traders now put the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December above 75%. Edward Jones senior global strategist Angelo Kourkafas called it a "blowout jobs report." A strong economy is good for business, but higher interest rates make far-off earnings worth less today, which tends to weigh most on growth stocks. For readers hunting for bargains after the pullback, our list of undervalued growth stocks is a place to start. For long-term holders, the more useful question is not what the market does next month but which companies can keep compounding through several more months like this one.
Meta made the list as a growth stock mentioned by at least three sources, with a market cap of $1.64 trillion and 254 hedge fund holders in Q2 2026.
Bill Ackman's Pershing Square disclosed a stake worth about a tenth of its capital and said Meta's share price undervalues the long-term upside from AI. Its presentation called Meta's business model "one of the clearest beneficiaries of AI integration," pointing to better content recommendations, more personalized ads and possible new products such as wearables and AI assistants for businesses. Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management has also made Meta one of its biggest holdings.
Meta's third-quarter report supports the idea. Revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, helped by a 14% increase in the average price of an ad, which suggests advertisers are getting better results and paying more for them. Impressions grew more slowly than price, so the gain came mostly from higher prices rather than more ads. The growth came even as the company kept raising its spending on data centers and servers.
Meta also sees the momentum continuing. It guided fourth-quarter revenue to a range well above the third quarter's level and said it will keep investing aggressively through 2027. About 3.64 billion people use at least one of its apps every day, the audience those AI gains are being applied to.
You can read our analysis on Meta Platforms (META) here: Meta (META): Can WhatsApp Become a Meaningful Business Beyond Advertising?
While we acknowledge the potential of META as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
READ NEXT: Nvidia Is Becoming More Than a Chipmaker. Can it Sustain Its Exceptional Margins? and Nvidia vs. Microsoft: Is NVDA's Explosive Growth Being Undervalued?
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