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Time to Buy Meta Platforms (META) Stock for More Upside?
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After a very tough 2022 for social media stocks, these equities have rebounded with a vengeance so far this year with Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) ) leading the way.
Investors may be wondering if META’s sharp rebound in 2023 has been overdone or if there is still more upside ahead. Let’s see if it’s still time to buy shares of META at their current levels.
Overview
Optimism has been building this year for social media stocks like Meta Platforms, Snap (SNAP - Free Report) ), and Pinterest (PINS - Free Report) ) after unprecedented declines last year as high inflation crippled these equities along with the broader technology sector.
Meta, Snap, and Pinterest stocks all participated in early rallies this year on signs of easing inflation. However, Meta stock continued to soar following its fourth-quarter earnings report in early February.
Shares of Meta spiked 20% after the company impressively topped its Q4 top and bottom line expectations. In addition to this, Meta announced $40 billion in stock buybacks that further supported the rally and was reassuring to investors.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
This reinsurance in buybacks was much needed as Meta’s headcount increased 20% year over year and expects total expenses in 2023 will be between $89-95 billion despite many shareholders calling for the company to lower its capital expenditures by scaling back on its push into the Metaverse and cutting its labor force.
Still, the sentiment surrounding Meta stock is growing with the company reaching a milestone of $2 billion daily active users during Q4, up 4% YoY. Monthly active users were up 2% YoY at 2.96 billion. Also, as inflationary concerns subside there is optimism that advertisers will continue to spend more with ad sales accounting for most of Meta’s revenue.
Valuation
With Meta stock up +56% year to date but still 22% off its highs, investors will want to monitor the company’s valuation. On that note, Meta stock may have more upside in this regard when looking at its P/E valuation.
Meta stock trades at $185 per share and 18.2X forward earnings which is on par with the S&P 500 ‘s P/E average and well below its industry average of 47.1X. Plus META still trades nicely below its decade high of 23.3X and closer to the median of 15.1X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Growth
Paying attention to Meta’s growth prospects will also be important at its current levels and its stock is still intriguing here as well. Meta earnings are expected to be virtually flat in fiscal 2023 but climb 19% in FY24 at $11.66 per share. Furthermore, earnings estimate revisions have largely gone up over the last 90 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
On the top line, sales are forecasted to rise 4% this year and jump another 11% in FY24 to $135.76 billion. More impressive, fiscal 2024 would represent 92% growth over the last five years with 2019 sales at $70.69 billion.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
The top and bottom line growth of Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) is very intriguing again with the stock sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and its Internet-Software Industry is currently in the top 29% of over 250 Zacks Industries.
Meta stock also sports an overall “B” VGM Style Scores grade for the combination of Value, Growth, and Momentum and the rising earnings estimate revisions are a good sign that its strong performance in 2023 could continue.
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Time to Buy Meta Platforms (META) Stock for More Upside?
After a very tough 2022 for social media stocks, these equities have rebounded with a vengeance so far this year with Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) ) leading the way.
Investors may be wondering if META’s sharp rebound in 2023 has been overdone or if there is still more upside ahead. Let’s see if it’s still time to buy shares of META at their current levels.
Overview
Optimism has been building this year for social media stocks like Meta Platforms, Snap (SNAP - Free Report) ), and Pinterest (PINS - Free Report) ) after unprecedented declines last year as high inflation crippled these equities along with the broader technology sector.
Meta, Snap, and Pinterest stocks all participated in early rallies this year on signs of easing inflation. However, Meta stock continued to soar following its fourth-quarter earnings report in early February.
Shares of Meta spiked 20% after the company impressively topped its Q4 top and bottom line expectations. In addition to this, Meta announced $40 billion in stock buybacks that further supported the rally and was reassuring to investors.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
This reinsurance in buybacks was much needed as Meta’s headcount increased 20% year over year and expects total expenses in 2023 will be between $89-95 billion despite many shareholders calling for the company to lower its capital expenditures by scaling back on its push into the Metaverse and cutting its labor force.
Still, the sentiment surrounding Meta stock is growing with the company reaching a milestone of $2 billion daily active users during Q4, up 4% YoY. Monthly active users were up 2% YoY at 2.96 billion. Also, as inflationary concerns subside there is optimism that advertisers will continue to spend more with ad sales accounting for most of Meta’s revenue.
Valuation
With Meta stock up +56% year to date but still 22% off its highs, investors will want to monitor the company’s valuation. On that note, Meta stock may have more upside in this regard when looking at its P/E valuation.
Meta stock trades at $185 per share and 18.2X forward earnings which is on par with the S&P 500 ‘s P/E average and well below its industry average of 47.1X. Plus META still trades nicely below its decade high of 23.3X and closer to the median of 15.1X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Growth
Paying attention to Meta’s growth prospects will also be important at its current levels and its stock is still intriguing here as well. Meta earnings are expected to be virtually flat in fiscal 2023 but climb 19% in FY24 at $11.66 per share. Furthermore, earnings estimate revisions have largely gone up over the last 90 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
On the top line, sales are forecasted to rise 4% this year and jump another 11% in FY24 to $135.76 billion. More impressive, fiscal 2024 would represent 92% growth over the last five years with 2019 sales at $70.69 billion.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
The top and bottom line growth of Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) is very intriguing again with the stock sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and its Internet-Software Industry is currently in the top 29% of over 250 Zacks Industries.
Meta stock also sports an overall “B” VGM Style Scores grade for the combination of Value, Growth, and Momentum and the rising earnings estimate revisions are a good sign that its strong performance in 2023 could continue.