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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Meta Platforms and Snap's
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 7, 2023 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) and Snap's (SNAP - Free Report) .
Threads: Is a Social Media Catfight Brewing?
Social media has quickly sprawled across the globe, allowing us to connect to anyone anywhere at any time with just a few taps of our fingertips.
Of course, there are positives and negatives surrounding many of these applications, but one thing seems certain – they're not going anywhere anytime soon.
And as we all vividly remember, Elon Musk made a big move last year with his purchase of Twitter for a steep $44 billion.
Now, Meta Platforms, home to the wildly-popular photo and video sharing app Instagram and the WhatsApp messaging platform, is making new waves in social media.
The company unveiled Threads on Wednesday, which is aimed at rivaling Twitter. The app is similar to Twitter by nature, allowing users to comment, post, like, and share posts. It's also closely connected to Instagram, with META hoping its platforms can eventually 'blend' together to become a one-stop hub for communities.
Impressively, Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Threads account last night claiming that the app has gained 10 million signups in just a few hours. Still, Elon Musk took to Twitter last night, tweeting, 'It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.'
So, it appears safe to say that the Tesla CEO won't be making a Threads account anytime soon, especially considering it was revealed that he deleted his Instagram account back in 2018.
Analysts have become bullish on META's outlook in 2023, with earnings expectations increasing across the board. And if Threads proves successful, it's reasonable to assume that further upward revisions could hit the tape.
The Zacks rating system has had it right all year, upgrading Meta Platforms into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) in February of this year. The upgrade coincided with a massive run for shares.
In addition, we can see the unfavorable price action within shares when the stock was a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and #5 (Strong Sell) in the later months of 2022. Since its upgrade on February 3rd, META shares have rewarded investors with a sizable 60% gain.
But how do other social media stocks currently stack up, such as SNAP?
Snap
Snap's flagship product, Snapchat, is a mobile camera application that helps people communicate through short videos and images. Last year, the company unveiled Snapchat+, which allowed subscribers access to exclusive and pre-release features.
The service recently turned a year old, and SNAP states that the service has gained over four million subscribers. As a company heavily reliant on digital advertising revenue, the success of its premium offering is undoubtedly positive.
Snap posted mixed quarterly results in its latest release, exceeding the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate but falling short of revenue expectations. Market participants didn't react positively to the results, with shares taking a hit post-earnings.
Still, shares have since recovered, up 35% on a year-to-date basis. While the company's platform remains somewhat of a threat, catching up to Meta Platforms' established user base won't be easy.
Bottom Line
Social media is here to stay, and Zuckerberg's new toy, Threads, looks to disrupt. If the product proves to be a success, analysts will likely continue raising their earnings expectations.
Undoubtedly exciting, it appears that Twitter and other platforms have finally found a new rival. Social media cage fight, anyone?
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +6.2 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +46.4%, +49.5% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Meta Platforms and Snap's
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 7, 2023 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) and Snap's (SNAP - Free Report) .
Threads: Is a Social Media Catfight Brewing?
Social media has quickly sprawled across the globe, allowing us to connect to anyone anywhere at any time with just a few taps of our fingertips.
Of course, there are positives and negatives surrounding many of these applications, but one thing seems certain – they're not going anywhere anytime soon.
And as we all vividly remember, Elon Musk made a big move last year with his purchase of Twitter for a steep $44 billion.
Now, Meta Platforms, home to the wildly-popular photo and video sharing app Instagram and the WhatsApp messaging platform, is making new waves in social media.
The company unveiled Threads on Wednesday, which is aimed at rivaling Twitter. The app is similar to Twitter by nature, allowing users to comment, post, like, and share posts. It's also closely connected to Instagram, with META hoping its platforms can eventually 'blend' together to become a one-stop hub for communities.
Impressively, Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Threads account last night claiming that the app has gained 10 million signups in just a few hours. Still, Elon Musk took to Twitter last night, tweeting, 'It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.'
So, it appears safe to say that the Tesla CEO won't be making a Threads account anytime soon, especially considering it was revealed that he deleted his Instagram account back in 2018.
Analysts have become bullish on META's outlook in 2023, with earnings expectations increasing across the board. And if Threads proves successful, it's reasonable to assume that further upward revisions could hit the tape.
The Zacks rating system has had it right all year, upgrading Meta Platforms into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) in February of this year. The upgrade coincided with a massive run for shares.
In addition, we can see the unfavorable price action within shares when the stock was a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and #5 (Strong Sell) in the later months of 2022. Since its upgrade on February 3rd, META shares have rewarded investors with a sizable 60% gain.
But how do other social media stocks currently stack up, such as SNAP?
Snap
Snap's flagship product, Snapchat, is a mobile camera application that helps people communicate through short videos and images. Last year, the company unveiled Snapchat+, which allowed subscribers access to exclusive and pre-release features.
The service recently turned a year old, and SNAP states that the service has gained over four million subscribers. As a company heavily reliant on digital advertising revenue, the success of its premium offering is undoubtedly positive.
Snap posted mixed quarterly results in its latest release, exceeding the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate but falling short of revenue expectations. Market participants didn't react positively to the results, with shares taking a hit post-earnings.
Still, shares have since recovered, up 35% on a year-to-date basis. While the company's platform remains somewhat of a threat, catching up to Meta Platforms' established user base won't be easy.
Bottom Line
Social media is here to stay, and Zuckerberg's new toy, Threads, looks to disrupt. If the product proves to be a success, analysts will likely continue raising their earnings expectations.
Undoubtedly exciting, it appears that Twitter and other platforms have finally found a new rival. Social media cage fight, anyone?
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +6.2 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +46.4%, +49.5% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.