Meta Platforms (META) Laps the Stock Market: Here's Why

Meta Platforms (META) closed the most recent trading day at $712.97, moving +1.23% from the previous trading session. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.14% for the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.04%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.38%. The stock of social media company has risen by 3.21% in the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 7.37% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.35%.Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Meta Platforms in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on July 30, 2025. In that report, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post earnings of $5.78 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 12.02%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $44.69 billion, up 14.39% from the prior-year quarter. Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $25.48 per share and revenue of $186.98 billion, indicating changes of +6.79% and +13.67%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Meta Platforms. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability. Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system. The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.9% upward. Meta Platforms is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). In terms of valuation, Meta Platforms is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 27.64. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 29.16 for its industry. Meanwhile, META's PEG ratio is currently 1.72. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Internet - Software industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.2 as of yesterday's close. The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 79, this industry ranks in the top 32% of all industries, numbering over 250. The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1. Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions. One Big Gain, Every Trading DayTo help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks