Meta’s Muse AI Agent Triggers Stock Rally: What Josh Brown Thinks

Meta Platforms launched its Muse AI agent on September 8, 2026, introducing tiered subscriptions at $20 and $100 per month to monetize its massive AI infrastructure spend. The move triggered a sharp stock rally, pushing shares to new 52-week highs as investors shifted from viewing AI costs as a liability to a usable product.

For over a year, Wall Street treated Meta’s aggressive AI spending as a financial drain. Investors frequently questioned Why don't they just rent out all that compute they're paying for and bring in the revenue today? according to Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management. The launch of Muse provided the first direct consumer revenue line to anchor that spend, turning the narrative from capital expenditure to product monetization.

Muse Functionality and the $100 Monthly Tier

Muse is designed as a personal agent that acts on behalf of the user rather than simply answering questions. Powered by the company’s in-house Muse Spark model, the assistant can open browsers, fill out forms, organize calendars, and negotiate transactions. It is designed to carry out consumer tasks such as sending emails, booking travel, and completing transactions like selling a car. It operates autonomously, continuing to work after the app is closed and returning only when it requires user approval for actions like making payments.

• Free Tier: Basic access for the general user base.
• $20 per month: A paid subscription for enhanced capabilities.
• $100 per month: A premium tier for intensive usage needs.

The product’s accessibility is a core strategic pillar. Users can access Muse through a dedicated app or via WhatsApp, requiring no technical experience. The assistant is rolling out in the United States on iOS, Android, and the web. According to data from Apptopia, Muse recorded millions of downloads in the first 12 days after launch, which is more than double the downloads ChatGPT saw in the same period.

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Market Reaction and the $778 Share Price Peak

The market responded with immediate volatility. On September 9, 2026, shares closed at $653.69 on Nasdaq, a gain of 6.55 percent from the previous close. This single-day move, which saw the stock move from $613.48 to $653.69, represented a gain of $40.21 per share and added an estimated $102.4 billion to the company’s market capitalization in a single session, according to EBC. Consequently, Meta became one of the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 that day, despite a decline in broader U.S. equity indices.

By September 25, the rally extended as Meta showcased Muse’s expansion into hardware at its Connect 2026 event, with shares hitting an intraday high of $778.88, up 4.6% from the previous close. On Tuesday, September 22, 2026, shares rose 0.5 percent after having surged more than 11 percent the previous day, a move that added to Meta’s market capitalization and brought the stock to its highest level in more than seven months. The stock is now up 19.8% since January.

Analyst Firm	Rating/Action	Price Target
JPMorgan	Upgraded to Overweight	$820
Mizuho Securities	Reiterated Buy	$750
KeyBanc Capital Markets	Maintained Overweight	$780
Jefferies	Target Increase	$875

JPMorgan analysts noted that Muse has the potential to become one of the largest consumer AI applications since ChatGPT, citing Meta’s broad distribution reach and the availability of a free version as factors driving early adoption.

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AMD Partnership and the Shift to CPU Demand

The AI trade has historically been a GPU-centric market, but Muse is shifting the hardware requirement. Financial sector analyst Marc Rubinstein noted that while training models eat graphical processing power, Muse does things such as checking calendars and reading transactions. Because agents perform discrete tasks, much of the workload runs on CPUs. This has created a direct windfall for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which produces both GPUs and CPUs.

Photo: CNBC

Hardware Expansion and Data Security Conflicts

Meta is attempting to move Muse off the smartphone to avoid reliance on third-party platforms. At Connect 2026, the company announced that Muse is coming to its AI glasses so users can talk to the assistant hands-free. The company demonstrated Muse operating on glasses, gave a preview of a wearable pendant centered on the assistant, and unveiled a new VR headset. Meta also presented updates for Muse, featuring new capabilities, additional connectors for external services, and a model described as state-of-the-art, although the recap lacked performance data for this new model.

Mark Zuckerberg debuts $1,299 Meta VR Glasses and Muse Charm amid AI agent push

The company announced a wide range of AI glasses, including Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses and Oakley styles, with more than 100 styles planned by year-end. Other hardware includes a Muse Charm pendant shipping for the holidays and VR Glasses priced at $1,299, expected in spring 2027.

However, this expansion has sparked friction with other tech giants. Amazon has denied Muse permission to access its store, accusing the agent of potentially capturing customer credentials and accessing account data without proper identification. Amazon has demanded that Meta remove its platform from the Muse experience.

Despite these disputes, the company’s financial outlook remains aggressive, with full-year capex guidance reaching $145 billion. This comes as free cash flow collapsed to $784M from $8.55B a year ago.

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