Shares of Meta Platforms and Microsoft advanced this week as both companies unveiled new artificial intelligence initiatives, reigniting investor enthusiasm for big tech despite broader market pressure.
Meta climbed more than 4% on Monday to about $749 after launching Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, its most powerful AI models to date. Unlike conventional chatbots, the models are designed to plan, reason, and execute multi-step tasks across digital environments such as online shopping and travel bookings. Meta said the systems apply specialized knowledge to law, finance, and health, and include stronger safeguards against cyber misuse. Access to the models through the Muse personal agent app will require a monthly subscription of $20 or $100. Internal data reviewed by The Information showed Muse already had more than 3 million weekly users and over 1 million daily users submitting at least one prompt. Ahead of Meta's third-quarter earnings report expected on October 28, analysts remained broadly bullish: Cantor Fitzgerald kept an Overweight rating but trimmed its target to $840, TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with an $865 target, and Wells Fargo raised its target to $1,000 from $796.
Microsoft traded near record highs on Tuesday, rising 1.84% to $551.15 and pushing its market capitalization back above $4 trillion for the first time since October 2025. The company introduced the Maia 300 AI chip, a server rack system with 96 Maia processors, with deployment planned in cloud facilities in 2027. Microsoft said Maia 300 can process 40% more tokens per megawatt than leading GPU-based systems and highlighted its memory bandwidth. Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512, while Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Wood kept an Overweight rating and $600 target, pointing to Microsoft's ability to monetize enterprise AI workflows across its technology stack. Microsoft also announced a data center security initiative with Marvell Technology and Oracle under the Open Compute Project, focusing on silicon-based security and cryptographic key management. The company's AI expansion remains capital-intensive, with capital spending of $41 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter and $145 billion for the full fiscal year.
