By Adam Clark

Meta Platforms was gaining on Tuesday ahead of its annual conference. A new pair of smart glasses is set to take center stage.

Meta shares were up 0.4% at $767.86 in morning trading. The stock has fallen back from its record close of $790 in mid-August but is still riding high on the social media company's artificial-intelligence ambitions.

Part of the reason for the positivity has been growing sales of its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. More than two million pairs have been sold since their launch in 2023, according to Meta's eyewear manufacturing partner EssilorLuxottica.

Now Meta is aiming to build on that momentum with a new model of smart glasses with a built-in digital display, set to be unveiled at the company's two-day Connect conference beginning Wednesday. A video briefly posted to Meta's YouTube channel indicated the product would be Ray-Ban branded and could be controlled by a wristband, according to technology news outlet UploadVR.

Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment early on Monday. The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that the company planned to launch smart glasses with a small in-lens screen this year.

"The glasses are expected to be priced at around $800 and could bridge the gap between early adopters and mainstream consumers by offering a daily wearable with some VR [virtual reality] headset capabilities," wrote BofA Securities analysts in a recent research note.

Smart glasses are still a relatively niche product. Global sales of all brands surpassed two million units for the first time in 2024, according to Counterpoint Research.

"We think this price point is still too high for mass market adoption, but Hypernova could significantly advance the category with glass display functionality," wrote the BofA analysts, who have a Buy rating and $900 target price on Meta stock.

The stakes are high for Meta, which is under pressure to curb losses at the Reality Labs division that oversees smart glasses and other augmented-reality hardware. Reality Labs could book a loss of up to $20 billion this year, according to analysts at credit-research firm Gimme Credit, up from $17.7 billion in 2024.

Meta had more than 60% of the smart glasses market in 2024, but it has competition. Alphabet's Google said earlier this year it was working with fashion house Kering and eyewear company Warby Parker to develop its own AI-powered glasses.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

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September 16, 2025 10:43 ET (14:43 GMT)

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