Meta Platforms (META) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

In the latest close session, Meta Platforms (META) was up +2.24% at $562.60. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 1.18% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.59%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 2.07%. The stock of social media company has fallen by 13.01% in the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 5.33% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.9%.Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Meta Platforms in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $7.1, signifying a 0.56% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $60.13 billion, indicating a 26.56% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year. In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $33.01 per share and a revenue of $253.28 billion, indicating changes of +40.53% and +26.03%, respectively, from the former year. Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Meta Platforms. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits. Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model. The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Meta Platforms is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). In terms of valuation, Meta Platforms is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.67. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.67, so one might conclude that Meta Platforms is trading at a discount comparatively. Meanwhile, META's PEG ratio is currently 0.87. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Internet - Software industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.05. The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 79, which puts it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries. The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1. Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions. Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks