In the latest trading session, Facebook (FB) closed at $168.17, marking a +0.4% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 0.82% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.82%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.64%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the social media company had lost 11.74% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector’s loss of 8.68% and the S&P 500’s loss of 4.58% in that time.
FB will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect FB to post earnings of $1.90 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 9.2%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $16.45 billion, up 24.3% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.09 per share and revenue of $69.22 billion. These totals would mark changes of -6.34% and +23.97%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for FB should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. FB is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
Investors should also note FB’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 23.63. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 28.26, so we one might conclude that FB is trading at a discount comparatively.
We can also see that FB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.17. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. The Internet – Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.88 at yesterday’s closing price.
The Internet – Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 70, which puts it in the top 28% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Facebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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