Next stop for Facebook shares? $200 or more, say analysts Facebook Inc. shares have busted out a roughly 44% gain so far this year — but analysts are saying another 20% rise may lie ahead, after the tech company’s earnings pushed past Wall Street forecasts.
Shares of the social network giant FB, +2.85% were up more than 5% in premarket trading Thursday. They had initially fallen in after-hours trading on Wednesday on the release of those results before reversing. If Facebook hold on to those gains in regular trading, it could become the second tech giant to hit a market cap of $500 billion in two days.
Read: Facebook joins exclusive $500 billion club one day after Amazon hits the mark
Analysts quickly got to work lifting price targets Thursday. KeyBanc Capital Markets hauled its own target up to $200 from $155, lauding the “positive and early” impact of video for Facebook.
That $200 price target from KeyBanc’s analysts, who maintain an overweight rating on the tech darling, would imply a 20% increase from Wednesday’s close of $165.61. And that price was just short of an record.
“We believe Facebook’s transition to video-centricity is helping drive incremental demand that can sustain pricing growth for the foreseeable future,” said analyst Andy Hargreaves and the team at KeyBanc.
“Further, we see significant opportunities to drive upside to estimates through long-form video and monetization of Facebook’s billion-user messaging platforms,” they said in a note to clients.
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The highest price target for Facebook shares is $215, set by both Deutsche Bank and Raymond James, according to FactSet.
Facebook reported second-quarter revenue of $9.32 billion and earnings of $1.32 a share, both higher compared with a year ago. The social network also said it has now reached 2 billion monthly active users. Last quarter, the social networking company surprised its followers with a change in how it reports earnings, which had the effect of making its numbers clearer.
KeyBanc’s analysts said “accelerated” ad pricing — which grew 24% on average year-over-year — helped drive those upbeat results for the quarter. Facebook’s advertising revenue was a focus for analysts, after the company slowed additions of ads to its core Newsfeed service.
Read: Facebook keeps warning about growth, but growth doesn’t stop
Analysts at SIG Susquehanna also lifted their Facebook target to $200, from the previous $190, and maintained their positive rating on the stock. Shyam Patil and the team cited an “impressive 2Q outperformance and lower expense outlook” for driving the company’s key metrics higher.
Despite the 44% year-to-date gain for Facebook, shares are still only trading at around 14 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. That metric is growing around 50%, which would suggest “significantly more runway ahead for the stock,” said Patil and the team.
The analysts said the core Newsfeed and video parts of the business will drive growth for Facebook in the short to medium term, with the Messenger platform and augmented reality/virtual reality tools picking up the baton in the longer run.
Analysts from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. went a step higher with their price target, boosting it to $210 a share from $182, saying Facebook continues to “show a rare and impressive combination of scale, growth and profitability.”
A team of analysts led by Doug Anmuth said the fact that Facebook continues to generate strong cash flow even while “aggressively investing” was impressive. “Facebook continues to be our favorite large-cap name” and even with a strong year-to-date gain, he said. Valuation remains attractive, the report added as it reiterated an overweight rating.
Calling Facebook the “cash flow king,” Morgan Stanley’s team led by Brian Nowak lifted their price target on Facebook to $190 from $175, saying “ad rev growth and incremental margins highlight how early it is in the platform’s monetization and potential earnings power. The bank remains overweight on the social media networker.
And so we are told this is the golden age
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