Zacks Research Weighs in on Meta Platforms, Inc.’s Q2 2023 Earnings (NASDAQ:META)

Posted by on Apr 6th, 2023

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q2 2023 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Monday, April 3rd. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $1.70 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.64. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $10.22 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q3 2023 earnings at $1.80 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $2.10 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $7.32 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $1.87 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $2.07 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.29 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.88 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $9.11 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.38 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.14 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.88. The company had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.69 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 19.90%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on META. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $275.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Piper Sandler upgraded Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $136.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. SVB Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $220.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Meta Platforms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.29.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $211.48 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.01. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $88.09 and a 52-week high of $228.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $548.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.19.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,424,543,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,223,148,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,220,171,000. Morgan Stanley purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,072,543,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,796,633,000. 60.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.03, for a total transaction of $44,812.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,439.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 13,341 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.23, for a total transaction of $2,271,038.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 67,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,424,305.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.03, for a total value of $44,812.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,439.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,102 shares of company stock worth $12,320,188 in the last quarter. 14.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Meta Platforms, Inc, engages in the development of social media applications. It builds technology that helps people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. It operates through the Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL) segments. The FoA segment consists of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services.

Featured Articles

Earnings History and Estimates for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Receive News & Ratings for Meta Platforms Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Meta Platforms and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.