Meta Platforms Inc. (META) is cooking up some fruity new AI models, and if the naming convention tells us anything, someone on the team really enjoys the produce aisle. The social media giant is developing "Mango" and "Avocado," two AI models expected to launch in the first half of 2026, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Two Models, Two Different Missions

Here's what we know: Mango will focus on image and video processing, while Avocado is a text-based large language model designed to beef up coding capabilities. Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang discussed both projects during an internal company Q&A session on Thursday, joined by Chief Product Officer Chris Cox.

Interestingly, Avocado was originally slated for late 2025 but got pushed back to 2026. The delay suggests Meta is taking its time to get things right, which probably makes sense when you're trying to compete in an increasingly crowded AI landscape.

The company is also dipping its toes into something called "world models," which are AI systems that learn about their environment through visual information. It's still early days for that project, but it signals Meta's ambition to push beyond traditional AI applications.

Meta declined to comment when contacted about the report.

The Competitive Context

Meta's AI push comes as tech companies are locked in an arms race over artificial intelligence capabilities. Earlier this year, Google Gemini's "Nano Banana" AI image tool made waves for producing high-quality AI images. The tool even earned praise from Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, which is basically the tech equivalent of getting a Michelin star.

But here's where Meta's story gets interesting: while there's endless debate about whether massive AI spending will actually pay off, the company is already showing concrete returns. I/O Fund CEO and chief investment strategist Beth Kindig points out that Meta's latest earnings demonstrate measurable gains in ad efficiency, engagement, and monetization, not just vague promises about future potential.

The numbers back that up. Meta reported quarterly revenue of $51.24 billion, beating Wall Street estimates and jumping 26% year over year. Mark Zuckerberg's company also raised its fiscal 2025 capital expenditure guidance, signaling continued confidence in its AI investments.

What the Metrics Say

According to proprietary data, Meta holds a momentum rating of 33.80% and a growth rating of 78.36%. That growth metric evaluates the company's historical earnings and revenue expansion across multiple timeframes, weighing both long-term trends and recent performance.

As for the stock itself, Meta shares have climbed 10.88% year-to-date. On Thursday, the stock rose 2.32% to close at $664.45.

The bottom line? Meta isn't just talking about AI returns anymore. The company is actually demonstrating them, which might be why investors are sticking around despite the hefty spending. Whether Mango and Avocado can match the buzz around Google's Nano Banana remains to be seen, but Meta clearly isn't content to let competitors dominate the AI conversation.