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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Facebook, Apple, Google, Netflix and Amazon
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 19, 2018 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Facebook , Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , Google (GOOGL - Free Report) , Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) and Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) .
Can Facebook Mount a Comeback Amid Continued Backlash?
Shares of Facebook fell once again Friday, reaching lows not seen since the spring of 2017 as investors digest the latest Russia-related news surrounding the social media powerhouse. The question now is can Facebook make a comeback or will its slide continue?
Recent News
Facebook’s “fake news” and Russian interference scandals just keep coming. A New York Times report from Wednesday said that high-level Facebook executives overlooked signs of suspicious Russian activity on its platform. The story also noted that the embattled social media company tried to hide the scope of the problem to both the public and lawmakers, as well as try to push out negative stories about some of its fellow technology powers.
The report said that Facebook hired an opposition research firm to release damaging reports about both Apple and Google. A fact that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn’t dispute when he told reporters Thursday that the company has since parted ways with the firm Definers Public Affairs.
The Silicon Valley titan’s board also responded to the NYT report in a statement. “As Mark and Sheryl made clear to Congress, the company was too slow to spot Russian interference, and too slow to take action. As a board we did indeed push them to move faster. But to suggest that they knew about Russian interference and either tried to ignore it or prevent investigations into what had happened is grossly unfair.”
Clearly, the story is very complex and Facebook’s woes don’t seem like they will disappear anytime in the near future. But investors need to start asking themselves how these stories might really impact the company over the long-haul in order to determine what’s best when it comes to owning FB stock.
Facebook’s Spending
The number one issue that seems to have sent Facebook stock down amid this entire 2018 decline is spending. More than slowing user growth and worries that people mistrust Facebook, the true crux of the matter might rest on profit margins.
Facebook executives, in a now infamous second-quarter earnings call that caused FB stock to tank, detailed how its operating margin would begin to slide as it spent more money to combat the problems plaguing the platform.
Facebook projected that its operating margin would slip into the "mid-30s on a percentage basis" over a more than two-year period. We should note that this has already started to happen, as FB’s Q3 operating margin fell from 50% in the year-ago quarter to 42%.
The company has responded to these “fake news” and misinformation issues by upping its security and monitoring budgets. Zuckerberg has said that combating these platform manipulation problems will take years and billions of dollars to fix.
Facebook even recently announced that it plans to set up an independent body to help it decide what to do with worrisome content. Yet, Facebook’s CEO pointed out that the company has had to deal with huge changes before, such as moving from a PC-based platform to mobile.
With that said, Facebook posted adjusted Q3 earnings that jumped 10% to reach $1.76 per share to crush our Zacks Consensus Estimate that called for an 8% year-over-year decline. Facebook’s bottom-line beat and expansion came even as its costs and expenses soared 53% from $5.21 billion to $7.95 billion.
Outlook
Looking ahead, Facebook’s fiscal 2018 revenues are projected to jump 36% to reach $55.33 billion, based on our current estimate. Jumping to fiscal 2019, the company’s revenues are expected to climb roughly 24% above our 2018 estimate to $68.51 billion. Maybe more importantly, the firm’s adjusted 2018 earnings are expected to jump 19.3%, while fiscal 2019’s EPS is projected to pop just 1.4%.
Bottom Line
Facebook stock sat at roughly $138 per share through late morning trading Friday, down over 4% on the day and 37% from its 52-week and all-time high of $218 per share. FB’s decline has it trading right near its all-time low forward P/E at 19.3X, which falls below its industry’s 29.5X average and not too far above the S&P 500’s 16.4X.
The social media firm also currently estimates that more than 2.6 billion people use Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger each month—or roughly 35% of the global population.
Facebook closed Q3 with 2.27 billion monthly active users, up 10% from the third quarter of 2017. In the end, advertisers will continue to flock to Facebook as the likes of Netflix and Amazon steal more people away from ad-supported TV.
Facebook could also theoretically start to pay a dividend at some point down the road. But the prospect of government intervention still hangs over its head and its stock price continues to tank. Therefore, even though many of the fundamentals are in place to help Facebook stock climb once again, it is hard to know when that might start with no bottom in sight.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
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/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Facebook, Apple, Google, Netflix and Amazon
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 19, 2018 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Facebook , Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , Google (GOOGL - Free Report) , Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) and Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) .
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Can Facebook Mount a Comeback Amid Continued Backlash?
Shares of Facebook fell once again Friday, reaching lows not seen since the spring of 2017 as investors digest the latest Russia-related news surrounding the social media powerhouse. The question now is can Facebook make a comeback or will its slide continue?
Recent News
Facebook’s “fake news” and Russian interference scandals just keep coming. A New York Times report from Wednesday said that high-level Facebook executives overlooked signs of suspicious Russian activity on its platform. The story also noted that the embattled social media company tried to hide the scope of the problem to both the public and lawmakers, as well as try to push out negative stories about some of its fellow technology powers.
The report said that Facebook hired an opposition research firm to release damaging reports about both Apple and Google. A fact that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn’t dispute when he told reporters Thursday that the company has since parted ways with the firm Definers Public Affairs.
The Silicon Valley titan’s board also responded to the NYT report in a statement. “As Mark and Sheryl made clear to Congress, the company was too slow to spot Russian interference, and too slow to take action. As a board we did indeed push them to move faster. But to suggest that they knew about Russian interference and either tried to ignore it or prevent investigations into what had happened is grossly unfair.”
Clearly, the story is very complex and Facebook’s woes don’t seem like they will disappear anytime in the near future. But investors need to start asking themselves how these stories might really impact the company over the long-haul in order to determine what’s best when it comes to owning FB stock.
Facebook’s Spending
The number one issue that seems to have sent Facebook stock down amid this entire 2018 decline is spending. More than slowing user growth and worries that people mistrust Facebook, the true crux of the matter might rest on profit margins.
Facebook executives, in a now infamous second-quarter earnings call that caused FB stock to tank, detailed how its operating margin would begin to slide as it spent more money to combat the problems plaguing the platform.
Facebook projected that its operating margin would slip into the "mid-30s on a percentage basis" over a more than two-year period. We should note that this has already started to happen, as FB’s Q3 operating margin fell from 50% in the year-ago quarter to 42%.
The company has responded to these “fake news” and misinformation issues by upping its security and monitoring budgets. Zuckerberg has said that combating these platform manipulation problems will take years and billions of dollars to fix.
Facebook even recently announced that it plans to set up an independent body to help it decide what to do with worrisome content. Yet, Facebook’s CEO pointed out that the company has had to deal with huge changes before, such as moving from a PC-based platform to mobile.
With that said, Facebook posted adjusted Q3 earnings that jumped 10% to reach $1.76 per share to crush our Zacks Consensus Estimate that called for an 8% year-over-year decline. Facebook’s bottom-line beat and expansion came even as its costs and expenses soared 53% from $5.21 billion to $7.95 billion.
Outlook
Looking ahead, Facebook’s fiscal 2018 revenues are projected to jump 36% to reach $55.33 billion, based on our current estimate. Jumping to fiscal 2019, the company’s revenues are expected to climb roughly 24% above our 2018 estimate to $68.51 billion. Maybe more importantly, the firm’s adjusted 2018 earnings are expected to jump 19.3%, while fiscal 2019’s EPS is projected to pop just 1.4%.
Bottom Line
Facebook stock sat at roughly $138 per share through late morning trading Friday, down over 4% on the day and 37% from its 52-week and all-time high of $218 per share. FB’s decline has it trading right near its all-time low forward P/E at 19.3X, which falls below its industry’s 29.5X average and not too far above the S&P 500’s 16.4X.
The social media firm also currently estimates that more than 2.6 billion people use Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger each month—or roughly 35% of the global population.
Facebook closed Q3 with 2.27 billion monthly active users, up 10% from the third quarter of 2017. In the end, advertisers will continue to flock to Facebook as the likes of Netflix and Amazon steal more people away from ad-supported TV.
Facebook could also theoretically start to pay a dividend at some point down the road. But the prospect of government intervention still hangs over its head and its stock price continues to tank. Therefore, even though many of the fundamentals are in place to help Facebook stock climb once again, it is hard to know when that might start with no bottom in sight.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
See Them Free>>
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential 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/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.