In a report released today, Jason Helfstein from Oppenheimer maintained a Buy rating on Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), with a price target of $200. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $158.85, close to its 52-week low of $149.02.
Helfstein wrote:
“Engagement and monetization appear strong enough, despite the continued barrage of negative news headlines. As such, given the overwhelming negative sentiment, we believe the bar is low enough for 3Q, even if opex is higher than Street expectations. We see core US DAU flat, with IG up q/q, while time spent/user up across both platforms (vs. weakness at TWTR & SNAP). While Int’l. DAU should decrease q/q on GDPR, time spent/user is improving. On monetization, 2Q core CTR experienced a large jump q/q, suggesting CPC should increase in 3Q. On the negative side, we think management pulled forward hiring on platform safety, and we are increasing 3Q opex vs. Street. We believe investors should not sell FB shares ahead of 3Q results.”
According to TipRanks.com, Helfstein is a top 100 analyst with an average return of 19.9% and a 64.5% success rate. Helfstein covers the Technology sector, focusing on stocks such as Endurance International, ANGI Homeservices Inc, and IAC/InterActiveCorp.
The word on The Street in general, suggests a Moderate Buy analyst consensus rating for Facebook with a $204.29 average price target, implying a 28.6% upside from current levels. In a report issued on September 25, Robert W. Baird also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $195 price target.
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Based on Facebook’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending June 30, the company reported a quarterly revenue of $13.23 billion and net profit of $5.11 billion. In comparison, last year the company earned revenue of $10.33 billion and had a net profit of $4.7 billion.
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