If you had invested in Meta Platforms' (META +2.27%) IPO and held onto its shares since, you would have earned outstanding, market-beating returns along the way. However, with the stock worth $1.4 trillion (as of writing), does it still have enough growth fuel to perform well over the long run? Let's find out whether investing in Meta Platforms today could set you up for life.
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A blueprint for long-term performance
Meta Platforms boasts a library of websites and apps, which includes Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. It is the leading player in the social media landscape with 3.58 billion daily active users as of the end of 2025. Meta Platforms' scale grants it a powerful moat from multiple sources, including the network effect. It has also made the company one of the dominant forces in digital advertising, where it generates most of its revenue. Over the years, Meta Platforms has improved engagement on its apps, notably by launching new interactive features and, more recently, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithms.
Growing engagement, along with better tools for advertisers, has generally led to higher revenue and profits, while the company continues to boast strong gross margins (digital advertising is a famously high-margin business). Could the same blueprint work for Meta Platforms over the long run?
NASDAQ: META
Key Data Points
My view is that, beyond its highly successful advertising business, Meta's greatest strengths lie in its vast ecosystem and ability to innovate. So long as these two aspects of its business remain intact, Meta Platforms should continue to deliver competitive returns. True, the digital ad space might evolve, competition in the social media niche could intensify, or other challenges could present themselves. However, Meta Platforms has shown in the past -- and continues to demonstrate -- that it can adapt to all these circumstances.
Meanwhile, the company is doubling down on its AI-related work, which has already unlocked significant value for its ad business. Meta Platforms is investing small fortunes in AI initiatives that might harm margins in the short term but will allow it to capitalize on AI even more over the long run. Meta Platforms is ramping up other opportunities, such as business messaging on WhatsApp, while seeing a significant opportunity in AI glasses.
Now, there will be risks, including the cyclicality of the advertising industry. Ad demand tends to fall during economic downturns, which can affect Meta Platforms' business. However, the company has survived these challenges before, notably by cutting expenses. Further, Meta Platforms has a robust balance sheet, with a cash, equivalents, and marketable securities balance of $81.6 billion as of the end of 2025 that covers the company's short-term debt obligations, and then some.
Meta has many of the qualities needed to perform well over the long run: financial strength, a solid moat, a deep user base, and innovative capabilities. The stock can help set investors up for life as part of a well-diversified portfolio.
