Mark Zuckerberg has told the world in October 2021 that Facebook will rebrand itself to Meta as it moves forward towards the Metaverse.
Facebook | via Reuters
meta The stock surged 25% Thursday morning, its best daily pace in almost a decade. Analyst upgrade come down from behind Exceeded Q4 earnings An optimistic prediction by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Metashare is at its highest point since September 2022, Dismal third quarter earnings The report led Wall Street analysts to openly question Zuckerberg’s leadership. But Wednesday night and Thursday morning’s analyst notes changed the tone noticeably, with the company’s earnings topping his top-line estimate at $32.17 billion.
“Is Meta worth the 20% uptick in the aftermarket?!” said Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney. In a nutshell, Mahaney writes yes. He cited “dramatically reduced cost projections” and larger-than-expected buybacks, raised his price target to $275, and repeatedly beat the rating.
Barton Crockett of Rosenblatt took Meta’s valuation to buy, setting a target price of $220 and saying he was pleased with the “attractive” valuation. At the Guggenheim, Michael Morris revised the price target to his $210 and maintained the buy rating. He cites cost savings and trust in management’s messaging about “momentum” as one reason.
Zuckerberg’s comments Just months after the co-founder of Meta took responsibility, thousands of shots fired of workers. “Our management theme for 2023 is The Year of Efficiency and we are focused on becoming a stronger and more agile organization,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
Zuckerberg, 38, spearheaded the company’s transformation into virtual reality, pumping billions into Meta’s Reality Labs. This is a costly ruse and has been criticized by both analysts and activist investors. Brad Gerstnerhe sees the ploy as a distraction from the company’s core advertising business.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom and Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.
