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Facebook (FB) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Facebook closed the most recent trading day at $301.47, moving -0.39% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.93% gain on the day.

Heading into today, shares of the social media company had gained 2.96% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 8.56% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.84% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from FB as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be April 28, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.35, up 37.43% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $23.67 billion, up 33.46% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.27 per share and revenue of $108.48 billion. These totals would mark changes of +11.69% and +26.19%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for FB. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% lower within the past month. FB is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, FB currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 26.57. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 31.49, which means FB is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, FB's PEG ratio is currently 1.38. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Internet - Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.88 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 192, which puts it in the bottom 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow FB in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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