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Meta Platforms (META) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market: Important Facts to Note

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Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $644.23, moving -1.3% from the previous trading session. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 1.07% for the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.51%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.69%.

The social media company's shares have seen an increase of 7.02% over the last month, surpassing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 1.6% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.94%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Meta Platforms in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $8.15, indicating a 1.62% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $58.37 billion, showing a 20.63% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $23.43 per share and a revenue of $198.75 billion, representing changes of -1.8% and +20.82%, respectively, from the prior year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Meta Platforms. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% higher. As of now, Meta Platforms holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Meta Platforms has a Forward P/E ratio of 27.86 right now. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 29.42.

We can also see that META currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Internet - Software industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.98.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 57, placing it within the top 24% of over 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.

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


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