Meta Platforms (META) stock is up over 21% in 2025 so far, exceeding expectations and beating out several magnificent-seven counterparts. The leading tech stock has pivoted to an AI-focused plan this year, capitalizing on the growing sector and the revenue that comes with it. Now trading near record labels, META appears to be one of the most successful AI stock options this year, even outperforming chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) year-to-date.

During its March quarterly earnings call, while other major tech companies either maintained their AI capex guidance or else guided for spending to taper down in the future, Meta raised its 2025 capex guidance to between $64 billion and $72 billion compared to the previous guidance of $60 billion to $65 billion. The company has raised its investments in data centers and overall AI development. “We continue to increase our investments and focus more of our resources on AI,” said Zuckerberg during that earnings call. As a result, investors have been bullish on META stock since, driving its shares to record highs.

Furthermore, during its Q1 earnings call, Meta said that its AI digital assistant monthly user count is now almost 1 billion. According to Zuckerberg, AI will lead to better user engagement and “improved advertising.” He listed business messaging and Meta AI as the other growth drivers

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In addition, Meta’s investment in the IT company Scale AI has also proven profitable. The Facebook developer acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI in June, while hiring its founder, Alexandr Wang, and other employees in the process. Besides these key acquisitions, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have remained active in putting the company in a position of dominance in AI, also recruiting several other notable figures in the space. Indeed, the company hired former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, who heads the company’s Superintelligence Labs along with Alexandr Wang. Meta also swooped in on several AI executives from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

After the recent rally, Meta now trades very close to its mean target price of $722.96. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from the 54 analysts actively covering the stock, according to BarChart. Its gains and innovations this year, compared to rivals Microsoft and Google, are incredibly promising. While its expenditure is high, Meta’s revenue has countered it enough to make all of the AI investments worth it.