Editor's note: Any and all references to time frames longer than one trading day are for purposes of market context only, and not recommendations of any holding time frame. Daily rebalancing ETFs are not meant to be held unmonitored for long periods. If you don't have the resources, time or inclination to constantly monitor and manage your positions, leveraged and inverse ETFs are not for you.

Investing in the funds involves a high degree of risk. Unlike traditional ETFs, or even other leveraged and/or inverse ETFs, these leveraged and/or inverse single-stock ETFs track the price of a single stock rather than an index, eliminating the benefits of diversification. Leveraged and inverse ETFs pursue daily leveraged investment objectives, which means they are riskier than alternatives which do not use leverage. They seek daily goals and should not be expected to track the underlying stock’s performance over periods longer than one day. They are not suitable for all investors and should be utilized only by investors who understand leverage risk and who actively manage their investments. The Funds will lose money if the underlying stock’s performance is flat, and it is possible that the Bull Fund will lose money even if the underlying stock’s performance increases, and the Bear Fund will lose money even if the underlying stock’s performance decreases, over a period longer than a single day. Investing in the Funds is not equivalent to investing directly in META.

Meta Platforms (Ticker: META) is no longer just a social media giant—it’s an increasingly complex, high-stakes player in AI infrastructure and hardware innovation that’s trying to monetize its massive user base in emerging markets.

With July earnings on the horizon, traders are closely watching the company’s evolving narrative: can its big bets on artificial intelligence and smart devices offset the intensifying monopoly pressure from regulators and an aging ad model?

Below is a daily chart of META, as of June 23, 2025.

Source: StockCharts.com.

Candlestick charts display the high and low (the stick) and the open and close price (the body) of a security for a specific period. If the body is filled, it means the close was lower than the open. If the body is empty, it means the close was higher than the open.The performance data quoted represents past performance.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

For tactical investors interested in Direxion’s daily leveraged and inverse ETFs, the META setup offers both potential volatility* and opportunity.

Bullish Catalysts

Meta’s bullish case hinges on more than just advertising. A series of recent bold moves suggest a broader ambition to dominate the AI stack, revive underused platforms like WhatsApp, and deliver new hardware. Here are three major developments drawing the attention of traders bullish on the stock.

AI-Powered Smart Glasses with Oakley: Meta recently announced a collaboration with Oakley to launch the Meta HSTN, an AI-enabled pair of performance smart glasses with a 3K camera, 8-hour battery life, and open-ear audio, Fox Business reports. Slated for pre-order on July 11, the new device builds on the success of the Ray-Ban Meta series, while expanding the hardware’s appeal to fitness and tech-savvy markets.

Scale AI Investment and Perplexity Pursuit: Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI wasn’t just a headline—it signaled a full-throttle move into AI infrastructure, according to The Motley Fool. Reports have also emerged that Meta had approached Perplexity AI, a fast-growing chatbot rival to ChatGPT, about a potential acquisition. According to CNBC, Meta also expressed interest in the newly formed Safe Superintelligence project. These AI expansions have been reinforced by talent poaching from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Microsoft.

WhatsApp Monetization and Indian Market Push: Meta is rolling out ads on WhatsApp, tapping into one of its most underutilized platforms. The company also promoted Arun Srinivas to lead its India business, signaling an aggressive push into a high-growth, mobile-first ad market. This comes as India continues to dominate global messaging app usage and mobile commerce, making WhatsApp an ideal monetization candidate.

Bearish Catalysts

Despite these ambitious pivots, Meta faces meaningful headwinds that could derail near-term momentum. From regulatory clouds to margin drag and platform risk, bears still have strong arguments—particularly with a quarterly earnings report looming.

FTC Monopoly Case Pressures on Core Business: The Federal Trade Commission’s case against Meta—focused on its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp—is advancing slowly but steadily, according to The Hill. A ruling in favor of the FTC could trigger forced divestitures or restrictions on how these properties integrate with Meta’s broader ecosystem, weakening both scale and revenue synergies.

Revenue Concentration and China Exposure: Meta still earns the vast majority of its revenue through advertising on Facebook and Instagram. This model faces dual threats: privacy restrictions from Apple and potential economic slowdowns or geopolitical friction in China, according to Investor’s Business Daily. With limited diversification in revenue streams—despite recent moves—any disruption to ad demand can significantly impact earnings.

Reality Labs Losses and Legal Expenses: Meta’s hardware division, Reality Labs, continues to post multi-billion-dollar annual losses, with unclear timelines for profitability. In April, Meta cut Reality Labs division employees focused on developing virtual reality, augmented reality and related wearable devices, CNBC reported. Meanwhile, the company’s regulatory and legal costs—from antitrust battles to India-specific compliance—are mounting. This combination could pressure margins at a time when investors are watching for discipline.

Trading META with Single Stock Daily Leveraged and Inverse ETFs

For active traders looking to play META on the upcoming earnings report and other catalysts, Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares (Ticker: METU) and Direxion Daily META Bear 1X Shares (Ticker: METD) seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% and 100% of the inverse (or opposite), respectively, of the performance of the common shares of Meta Platforms, Inc.

*Definitions and Index Descriptions

An investor should carefully consider a Fund’s investment objective, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. A Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information about the Direxion Shares. To obtain a Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus call 866-476-7523 or visit our website at direxion.com. A Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

The Funds have derived all disclosures contained in this document regarding Meta Platforms, Inc. from publicly available documents. In connection with the offering of each Fund’s securities, neither the Funds, the Trust, nor the Adviser or any of its respective affiliates has participated in the preparation of such documents. Neither the Funds, the Trust nor the Adviser or any of its respective affiliates makes any representation that such publicly available documents or any other publicly available information regarding Meta Platforms, Inc. is accurate or complete. Furthermore, the Funds cannot give any assurance that all events occurring prior to the date hereof (including events that would affect the accuracy or completeness of the publicly available documents described above) that would affect the trading price of Meta Platforms, Inc. have been publicly disclosed. Subsequent disclosure of any such events or the disclosure of or failure to disclose material future events concerning Meta Platforms, Inc. could affect the value of a Fund’s investments with respect to Meta Platforms, Inc. and therefore the value of the Funds.

Direxion Shares Risks – An investment in a Fund involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Each Fund is non-diversified and includes risks associated with a Fund concentrating its investments in a particular security, industry, sector, or geographic region which can result in increased volatility. A Fund’s investments in derivatives such as futures contracts and swaps may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility and lack of availability. As a result, the value of an investment in a Fund may change quickly and without warning.

Leverage Risk – The Bull Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its net assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its investment objective than a fund that does not utilize leverage. A total loss may occur in a single day. Leverage will also have the effect of magnifying any differences in the Fund’s correlation with META and may increase the volatility of the Bull Fund.

Daily Correlation Risk – A number of factors may affect the Bull Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with META and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. The Bull Fund’s exposure to META is impacted by META’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Bull Fund will be perfectly exposed to META at the end of each day. The possibility of the Bull Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to META increases on days when META is volatile near the close of the trading day.

Daily Inverse Correlation Risk – A number of factors may affect the Bear Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with META and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. The Bear Fund’s exposure to META is impacted by META’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Bear Fund will be perfectly exposed to META at the end of each day. The possibility of the Bear Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to META increases on days when META is volatile near the close of the trading day.

Meta Platforms, Inc. Investing Risk — Meta Platforms, Inc. is subject to a number of risks related to: its product offerings; business operations and financial results; government regulation and enforcement; the ability to collect and use consumer data; data, security and intellectual property; and the dual class structure of the company’s common stock, which limits the ability of shareholders to influence corporate matters.

Technology Sector Risk — The market prices of technology-related securities tend to exhibit a greater degree of market risk and sharp price fluctuations than other types of securities. These securities may fall in and out of favor with investors rapidly, which may cause sudden selling and dramatically lower market prices.

Additional risks of each Fund include Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk, Derivatives Risk, Counterparty Risk, Rebalancing Risk, Intra-Day Investment Risk, Industry Concentration Risk, Market Risk, Indirect Investment Risk, and Cash Transaction Risk. Additionally, for the Direxion Daily META Bear 1X Shares, Shorting or Inverse Risk. Please see the summary and full prospectuses for a more complete description of these and other risks of a Fund.

ALPS Distributors, Inc.