#3 - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) has been one of the best-performing stocks in the last 12 months, with a stock price gain of over 97%, including 69% in 2024. That’s pushed the stock’s market cap to over $1.5 trillion, making it the sixth-largest technology stock by market cap.
The company’s success is due to its pronounced shift to capture the digital advertising market. In the second quarter of 2024, that generated $38.3 billion in revenue for the company.
Heading into 2025, Meta plans to develop its own search engine powered by its Meta AI chatbot. Plus, with its Quest virtual reality (VR) headset, the company is starting to see some payoff for its investment in the metaverse, which was over $45 billion as of October 2024.
At 27x forward earnings, META stock looks cheap for a technology stock. According to the Meta Platforms analyst forecasts on MarketBeat, the stock is near its consensus price. However, analysts continue to bid the stock higher in advance of its earnings report on October 30.
About Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.
Read More - Current Price
- $573.96
- Consensus Rating
- Moderate Buy
- Ratings Breakdown
- 37 Buy Ratings, 4 Hold Ratings, 2 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $629.39 (9.7% Upside)
