Meta Goes All In On Texas With One Gigawatt Data Center

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is doubling down on its U.S. infrastructure footprint, unveiling plans to expand its El Paso, Texas data center to 1 gigawatt, a move that will push total investment beyond $10 billion while creating hundreds of long-term jobs. Data Center Expansion And Community Investment Meta confirmed on Friday it will expand its El Paso data center to 1 gigawatt, raising its investment to over $10 billion and supporting more than 300 permanent jobs, with over 4,000 construction workers at peak. The company is also funding local initiatives, including a $500,000 workforce development program with El Paso public schools, and plans to launch additional education and skills programs. Meta said it remains focused on minimizing environmental impact, targeting water positivity by 2030. In El Paso, the company plans to restore 200% of the water consumed by the data center to local watersheds. Meta added that its facility will use a closed-loop, liquid-cooled system designed to recirculate water and use zero water for most of the year. Technical Analysis META is trading 13.4% below its 20-day SMA and 15.5% below its 100-day SMA, showing the stock is still below key trend gauges that often act as "sell-the-rally" zones in downtrends. Shares are down 9.13% over the past 12 months and are currently positioned closer to their 52-week lows than highs. The RSI is at 26.34, which is oversold and often signals that selling pressure may be stretched in the near term. Meanwhile, MACD is at -19.7037 and remains below its signal line at -12.7426, reinforcing that downside momentum is still in control despite the oversold reading. The combination of oversold RSI (below 30) and bearish MACD suggests mixed momentum. Key Resistance: $0.00 Key Support: $482.00 Earnings & Analyst Outlook Looking further out, the next major catalyst for the stock arrives with the April 29, 2026 (estimated) earnings report. EPS Estimate: $6.63 (Up from $6.43 YoY) Revenue Estimate: $55.41 Billion (Up from $42.31 Billion YoY) Valuation: P/E of 23.3x (Suggests fair valuation relative to peers) Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price target of $850.17. Recent analyst moves include: Tigress Financial: Strong Buy (Raises Target to $945.00) (March 18) Wells Fargo: Overweight (Raises Target to $856.00) (February 23) Freedom Broker: Buy (Raises Target to $825.00) (February 3) Top ETF Exposure Capital Group Growth ETF (NYSE:CGGR): 8.03% Weight Natixis Loomis Sayles Focused Growth ETF (NYSE:LSGR): 8.02% Weight Invesco Nasdaq Internet ETF (NASDAQ:PNQI): 9.12% Weight Significance: Because META carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows will likely trigger automatic buying or selling of the stock. Price Action META Stock Price Activity: Meta Platforms shares were down 0.65% at $544.00 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data. Image via Shutterstock