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Meta Platforms (META) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

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The latest trading session saw Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) ending at $496.24, denoting a -0.15% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.57%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.83%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.39%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the social media company had gained 5% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.42% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.97% in that time.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Meta Platforms in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $4.27, showcasing a 61.74% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $36.07 billion, showing a 25.94% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $19.94 per share and a revenue of $158.75 billion, indicating changes of +34.1% and +17.68%, respectively, from the former year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Meta Platforms. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.62% higher. Meta Platforms currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Investors should also note Meta Platforms's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 24.92. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 30.15 of its industry.

Investors should also note that META has a PEG ratio of 1.28 right now. 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. The Internet - Software industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.79 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 42, positioning it in the top 17% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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