What Happened?
Shares of social network operator Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) jumped 5.3% in the afternoon session after the major indices rebounded, with stocks recouping some more of the post-tariff losses as the Bureau of Labor Statistics data revealed a resilient labor market. Non-farm payrolls rose by 177,000 in April 2025, significantly above the consensus forecast of 133,000.
Notably, a stable labor market often supports consumer spending, which is a key driver of economic growth, which means the report could help ease some of the recession fears that gripped markets. In more good news for markets, reports revealed that China may restart trade talks with the U.S. This shift could cool tensions, providing more clarity in an increasingly uncertain global market.
The shares closed the day at $597.40, up 4.4% from previous close.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
Meta’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock gained 9.9% on the news that the company reported strong second quarter 2024 earnings results. Meta slightly beat analysts' revenue guidance expectations for the next quarter. In addition, the quarter's revenue and EPS narrowly outperformed Wall Street's estimates. Looking ahead, the company planned to continue investing in Reality Labs as its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses saw strong traction. Overall, this quarter seemed fairly positive, and shareholders should feel optimistic.
Meta is down 0.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $596.73 per share, it is trading 19% below its 52-week high of $736.67 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Meta’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,907.
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