Technology

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 02/02/2024 12.8% Citigroup $440 → $525 Maintains Buy 01/30/2024 -0.09% Keybanc $380 → $465 Maintains Overweight 01/29/2024 -2.24% Jefferies $425 → $455 Maintains Buy 01/24/2024 -3.31% Raymond James $425 → $450 Maintains Strong Buy 01/22/2024 -14.05% RBC Capital → $400 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 01/19/2024 -11.91% JMP Securities $380 → $410 Maintains Market Outperform 01/17/2024 -10.83% Piper Sandler $355 → $415 Maintains Overweight 01/11/2024 0.99% Mizuho $400 → $470 Maintains Buy 01/10/2024 0.99% Mizuho $400 → $470 Maintains Buy 01/09/2024 -14.7% BMO Capital → $397 Initiates Coverage On → Market Perform 12/27/2023 -9.76% Wedbush $350 → $420 Maintains Outperform 11/22/2023 -6.53% Tigress Financial $380 → $435 Maintains Strong Buy 11/14/2023 -12.98% Stifel → $405 Reiterates Buy → Buy 10/26/2023 -12.98% Truist Securities $390 → $405 Maintains Buy 10/26/2023 -14.05% RBC Capital

Citigroup analyst Ronald Josey maintains Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) with a Buy and raises the price target from $440 to $525.

Meta Platforms’ (META) upbeat first-quarter revenue outlook implies a substantially higher-than-expected growth trajectory through the rest of the year, as the Facebook parent continues to see healthy engagement trends and improving monetization, Wedbush Securities said Friday. Revenue is set to be in a range of $34.5 billion to $37 billion for the ongoing quarter, assuming a neutral foreign-currency impact, the company said late Thursday. The current consensus on Capital IQ is for revenue of $35.64 billion, while Wedbush raised its own estimate to $35.92 billion from $33.57 billion. Shares of Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, jumped 17% in recent premarket trading. Meta has several “sustainable drivers” to support growth, such as improving monetization of new ad formats and surfaces, with reels becoming accretive to revenue and robust growth in click-to-message ad revenues, according to Wedbush. The company is also implementing artificial intelligence tools to diversify its advertiser base,

The following is a summary of the Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Meta Platforms reported Q4 2023 total revenue of $40.1 billion, reflecting a 25% year-over-year increase. The company’s net income was $14 billion or $5.33 per share. Total expenses of $23.7 billion signaled a decrease of 8% from the previous year, resulting in an operating income of $16.4 billion (41% operating margin). The record-high Family of Apps total revenue was $133 billion and ad revenue was $131.9 billion for FY 2023, each increasing by 16% year-over-year. Significant investment was made in servers, data centers, and network infrastructure, causing a capital expenditure of $7.9 billion. Meta ended the year with $65.4 billion in cash and marketable securities, besides an $18.4 billion debt. The platform launched a dividend program to return capital to shareholders, with the primary method being a $6.3 billion share repurchase in

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) announces inaugural dividend, potentially yielding CEO Mark Zuckerberg an estimated annual payout of $700 million. What Happened: Meta has communicated its decision to reward investors with a quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents per share for Class A and B common stock, commencing in March, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. With a stake of about 350 million shares, Zuckerberg is estimated to receive close to $175 million each quarter before taxes. The dividend announcement signifies Meta’s outlook on growth, as tech firms on a rapid growth trajectory often skip dividends, preferring to reinvest profits into new product development or high-priced acquisitions. However, Meta’s acquisition opportunities are dwindling due to regulatory pushback, even as it continues to invest substantially in artificial intelligence (AI).