Meta's strong earnings report sent its stock soaring after hours. The company also made it clear that the AI talent wars come with a hefty price tag.

In the midst of an artificial intelligence spending spree, Meta posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter, buoyed by growing ad revenue even as its expenses increased

At last glance, META stock is up 12.48% to trade at $782.71, on track for its best single-session gain since April 9. In response, 35 brokerages have issued price-target hikes, the highest coming from Rosenblatt Securities to $1,

S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures climbed to record levels on Thursday, after blockbuster earnings from Meta and Microsoft signaled Big Tech's hefty artificial intelligence bets were paying off.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and is just above the record high it set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was mostly unchanged as of 12:01 p.m. Eastern.