META vs GOOGL: Which is a Better Buy in 2025?

2025 is looking to be another eventful year for tech players with the stock market steadily heating up as investors begin to place their bets on who will be taking the lead.

Last year ended on a high, and seemingly optimistic note. For starters, the broader benchmark S&P 500 delivered an impressive 23.47% one-year return for the period ending December 31, 2024. This marked the index’s second year of winnings.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite delivered a robust 30,08% gain for the same one-year period and peaked during the festive season as investors turned to tech companies for improved long-term buoyancy.

Still, in 2024, the S&P 500 Information Technology Index recorded strong performance for the year. In total, the index gained over 37 percent for the 12-month period, ending December 31, and has delivered more than double in performance in the last three years compared to the broader benchmark S&P.

The technology sector is a hive of activity, however, certain players are standing out, delivering more promising growth, and the ability to leverage near-term opportunities more effectively.

The Magnificent Seven created massive shareholder wealth last year, and this year could hold a similar trajectory. Looking at two key players, Meta Platforms (META) and Alphabet (GOOGL), these picks should provide long-term benefits, but one currently provides more suitable growth and platform diversification, the other more geared to supercharge the field of AI.

Meta Platforms

Last year, Meta, the parent-company of Facebook delivered several key projects and further announced their ambitions to become leaders in the field of artificial intelligence. In 2024, the company launched their mixed reality hardware, including their AI-powered glasses which contain a handful of impressive AI-focused features.

Furthermore, the company announced an updated version of its Quest 3 headsets, with the release of the Quest 3S hardware. Not only was this update an important part of the company’s ability to see more of its customers moving into the mixed reality space, but the Quest 3S was also launched at a lower retail price of $299 compared to $499.

Still with mixed and virtual reality, in 2024, Meta introduced their first AR (augmented reality) glasses. Named Project Nazare, the AR headset takes the shape of ordinary sunglasses and will see additional updates and new releases in 2026 and 2028, according to some insights.

Outside of artificial intelligence, Meta could stand to benefit from the changing use of social media platforms by a majority of consumers. For instance, more people are said to be using social media for “searches” compared to search engines.

Many users, including young and old consumers, have turned to social media as their go-to search tool, this includes platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. One survey found that 66% of 18-26 year olds rely on social media to find answers. Same with those aged 27-34, with 60% and 62% of 25-42-year-olds now using social media more regularly for searches.

This change in user behavior could provide the company with a new opportunity to better understand how to improve their AI models, including ways to train them to become more efficient and reliable for various tasks, including for things such as highly specific keyword searches.

The company remains strongly focused on its position to leverage key developments in artificial intelligence. In April 2024, the company announced its ambitions to increase its spending levels for AI-focused technologies by as much as $10 billion for the year.

Initially, news of the increased spending wasn’t met with a positive response, with META shares sliding 19% that evening, and investors pulling their support. However, this reaction was shortlived, and since then, share performance has rebounded by 25.75% through to January 8.

The company’s AI ambitions have helped them secure a top spot among other market peers. Share performance has remained strong, with META up more than 72% over the last 12-month period.

There is a sense of optimism surrounding Meta for 2025. Investors are feeling more confident that the company will continue to dominate the field of artificial intelligence, but will use its position to market new products and services to its customers across its family of digital applications.

There has been a strong improvement in the company’s ad services, with the average price per ad increasing 11% year over year, according to its Q3 2024 results. Additionally, ad impressions across its Family of App rose 7%, and the company reported impressive numbers, delivering total quarterly revenue of $40.59 billion, which represented a 19% year-over-year increase.

The company has managed to monetize several key business facets, and these have in turn delivered impressive results. Their aggressive AI strategy and the budget to pursue such projects will provide Meta more long-term growth opportunities, and the ability to advance core business activities that should deliver strong ROI in the next several years.

Alphabet

In the arena of artificial intelligence, Alphabet, the parent company of Google (GOOG) has made plenty of noise in recent years, and according to co-founder Larry Page, the company is looking to undertake more ambitious projects in the near future, and have been investing in various opportunities at scale.

In 2024, the company launched several new updates that helped it capture the limelight among other major tech players. For starters, Alphabet announced an updated version of its family of Gemini AI applications, including the launch of Flash, a new AI model that is faster and more affordable to operate.

Gemini allows users to have direct access to Google AI, a free-to-use generative AI platform that provides users with help in writing, planning, and learning. Then there was Project Astra, a prototype that talks to users about anything captured on their smartphone camera in real time.

Alphabet has become a conglomerate compared to its peers. Outside of Google, the company owns YouTube, Chrome, AdWords, Waymo, and DeepMind, among several other key applications, and the Android smartphone platform.

Surging demand for a number of its services and products has seen Alphabet invest approximately $13 billion to build new data centers, which has largely been driven by strong demand for AI tools across its search engines.

One example of this has been with their AI unit, Google DeepMind. The AI-focused application aims to assist users with various day-to-day tasks, including planning and scheduling, among other things. The launch of DeepMind was in response to the company’s attempt to supercharge its AI capabilities and compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

On the hardware side, the company has managed to maintain relevance with several key changes and updates to Google Nest. The brand of AI-powered home speakers, including smart displays has undergone a revamp and is now running on improved natural language processing (NLP) software similar to that of Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri.

In addition to this, Google Gemini has become fully integrated with Google Home. These modifications provided much-needed improvements for the Google Nest Cameras, which now deploy features such as image and facial recognition. Following these updates, Google Nest has become increasingly AI-heavy and will see further improvements in the year ahead.

The supercharged investment in artificial intelligence has provided the company with the outcomes it was looking for. For one, Alphabet revenues in Q3 2024 increased by 15% to $88.30 billion. Reported revenue for Google Services rose 13% to $76.5 billion, largely fueled by strong demand across Google subscriptions, devices, and YouTube ads.

Revenue for other services and products, including Google Cloud climbed 35% to $11.4 billion, which was driven by accelerated growth in Google Cloud Platform, including their AI infrastructure and Generative AI Solutions.

During the 12-month period ending December 31, 2024 share performance is up by more than 34%. The company is off to an impressive start for the year, gaining nearly 3% in the first week of 2025. At this momentum, Alphabet could reach another record-setting peak this year, delivering impressive growth on the stock market, and further solidifying itself in the field of artificial intelligence.

The Verdict

Considering how busy both companies have been in the last several months, and taking into consideration their robust investment strategies to increase their performance in the field of artificial intelligence, Meta Platforms is perhaps a more suitable option for investors looking to take advantage of a hyperactive AI marketplace.

The company’s strong ambitions and their Family of Apps provide them with more product and service diversification, while also investing in digital hardware to breach new consumer markets. Alphabet is a strong contender, however looking ahead, Meta Platforms could use AI to bolster its core business functions, and accelerate growth across its entire portfolio.