In the latest close session, Meta Platforms (META) was up +1.34% at $682.31. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.14%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.61%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.69%.
Coming into today, shares of the social media company had gained 23.31% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 1.69%, while the S&P 500 lost 2.85%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Meta Platforms in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $6.39, marking a 11.86% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $63.18 billion, indicating a 23.29% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $31.38 per share and a revenue of $254.02 billion, signifying shifts of +33.59% and +26.4%, respectively, from the last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Meta Platforms should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 2% decrease. Meta Platforms is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Meta Platforms has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.27 right now. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 20.36 for its industry.
One should further note that META currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.04. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. META's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.14 as of yesterday's close.
The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 87, finds itself in the top 36% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).