Top analyst Youssef Squali at Cantor is detailing sunny, blue skies ahead for two of the tech industry’s leading players, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). In a formula of fast growth (check) coupled with higher margins (check), upon closely evaluating growth trends, the analyst spies “breakneck innovation” ahead for the giants and sees compelling buying value opportunity in these stocks.
Therefore, the analyst reiterates a Buy rating on FB with a price target of $170, which represents a just under 44% increase from where the shares last closed. Additionally, the analyst reiterates a Buy rating on shares of GOOGL with a $1,040 price target, which represents a 34% increase from current levels.
“Our tracking of growth trends for Alphabet and Facebook shows that the two companies have been driving a disproportionate share of the revenue growth coming into the digital ad segment, and that in 2017, they’ll account for virtually 100% of all incremental dollars. Given the great deal of innovation coming out of these two players, this trend implies that digital ad dollars spent on all other competing platforms is likely to be flat in 2017, and start declining in 2018. We remain constructive on GOOGL and FB given their massive, yet expanding audiences/reach, their data and highly engaging mobile and video ad formats, all at a compelling valuation, in our view,” Squali contends.
When looking at this year and well into 2017, the analyst predicts both giants are set to “command” two-thirds of all global digital ad spending, as both companies “continue to grow at a faster pace than the industry on average, helped by a positive network effect of users and usage, and strong momentum around product innovation.”
Youseff Squali has a very good TipRanks score with a 65% success rate and he stands at #34 out of 4,243 analysts. Squali yields 9.8% in his annual returns. When recommending FB, Squali realizes 24.1% in average profits on the stock. When suggesting GOOGL, Squali garners 8.9%.
TipRanks analytics exhibit FB as a Strong Buy. Based on 38 analysts polled in the last 3 months, 35 rate a Buy on FB, while 3 maintain a Hold. The 12-month average price target stands at $158.33, marking a nearly 34% upside from where the stock is currently trading.
In addition, TipRanks analytics demonstrate GOOGL as a Strong Buy. Out of 27 analysts polled in the last 3 months, 26 are bullish on Alphabet stock and 1 is bearish. With a return potential of nearly 25%, the stock’s consensus target price stands at $969.38.
