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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is up more than 40% so far in 2023, building on the rebound that began last November. The latest update was inspired by a well-received report, allowing Facebook’s parent sections to reach sections. he hasn’t been seen since last summer.
Does the meeting come as the company continues its long-term transition into the metaverse? Or is META still making purchases?
Three months of Rally & Positive Earnings Report
Meta Platforms (META) has been on a losing streak in the past three months of trading, rising from November’s low of $88.09 a share to $182.85 a share. This move is meant to push above 100%. META is now trading near the levels it did in June 2022.
The California tech giant’s conference call was boosted earlier this month by a financial report. In it, META exceeded revenue expectations by $480M and unveiled a $40B share buyback program. Looking ahead to the first quarter, META expects revenue to be between $26B and $28.5B, compared to the $27.25B expected by analysts.
Apart from META, other competing technology names that jumped ahead in 2023 include Snap Inc. (SNAP), Pinterest (PINS), Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT).
What is META and Buy?
Wall Street leans bullish on Meta (META), as 41 of 57 analysts surveyed give Meta Platforms either a Strong Buy or a Buy. Breaking it down, 29 analysts rated META as a Strong Buy and another 12 rated the stock a Buy.
Among the skeptics, 12 experts see the play as a Hold. On the opposite side of the spectrum, two rated the company as a Sell and two others rated the technology company as a Strong Sell.
From the price point, the average is at $204.63, which shows a further movement of 11% from its current level. Currently, the upper target is $275, with one bear predicting a drop to $80.
Seeking Alpha Numbers takes a more proactive stance, placing a Hold indicator on META. Meta Platform’s quantitative rating system with A+ for profit and A for progress. At the same time, it also gave the company led by Zuckerberg a C- in terms of its valuation and a D- in terms of its growth.
Check out the summary below:
Helping META’s biggest problem is looking for Alpha sponsor Yiannis Zourmpanos, who sees the company as a Strong Buy. “Even if the market is soft, the price plan will test the company’s profitability in the next few quarters.” Sad Zourmpanos. “META’s Investment Thesis is still in place, and the strong stability is supported by a positive outlook that leads to a stock price of $215-$257.”
On the other side of the argument, Brian Kapp, another agent at SA, sees META as a Hold. “Although the concept of the metaverse is being vilified a lot, I have no doubt that the main concept represents the future of communication. As for when and how it will happen, it remains an open question,” he said.
As for investors who may be interested in META but aren’t ready to push all their chips in, mutual funds offer a very different approach to META and the tech/communications space.
Currently, META has a total of 331 ETFs. Here are five of the company’s top holdings:
- Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLC19.68 % by weight
- Fidelity MSCI Communication Services Index ETF stock price historyNYSEARCA: FCOM13.02 % by weight
- The price of shares Global X Social Media ETF changed to +11.22%.
- Invesco NASDAQ Internet ETF (PNQI) – 10.72 %.
- Vanguard Communication Services ETF stock price historyNYSEARCA: VOXand 10.43 % weight
In addition, although they do not directly inform Meta Platforms, BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world has a problem with the market segment of the metaverse, saying that “the financial opportunity is here and now.”
