Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has been pushing all-time highs this year, and it doesn’t look like Zuckerberg is pumping the brakes. This most recent earnings report was a testament to this sentiment and seemed to solidify this fact. It wasn’t perfect, though, as there were some issues in the report and concerns that Facebook might be growing too quickly. Yet, following the release, analysts poured into the stock and seemingly had nothing but good things to say about the stock.
24/7 Wall St. has included some brief highlights from the earnings report, as well as what the analysts had to say afterward.
The social media giant posted $1.32 in earnings per share (EPS) and $9.32 billion in revenue, both beating consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $1.13 in EPS and revenue of $9.2 billion. The second-quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.97 and $6.44 billion in revenue.
During the quarter, daily active users were 1.32 billion on average for June 2017, an increase of 17% year over year. Monthly active users totaled 2.01 billion, up 17% from last year.
Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 87% of advertising revenue for the second quarter of 2017, up from approximately 84% of advertising revenue in the second quarter of 2016.
Average revenue per user seems to be slightly slower than Wall Street analysts expected. Essentially this is a good problem to have. Facebook has penetrated markets like India, but has yet to monetize its marketplace in those countries. So in a nutshell, Facebook’s users might have grown faster than predicted, taking away from the average revenue stats across the board.
Headcount at the company increased 43% year over year to a total of 20,658.
A few analysts weighed in on Facebook after the earnings report:
- Barclays raised its price target to $200.
- BMO has a Market Perform rating and raised its price target to $170 from $150.
- Canaccord Genuity raised its price target from $175 to $190.
- Deutsche Bank raised its price target from $189 to $215.
- Jefferies has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $215 from $192.
- Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating and raised its target to $190 from $175.
- Oppenheimer raised its price target to $195 from $170.
- Raymond James has a Strong Buy rating and raised its target from $180 to $215.
- RBC raised its price target to $195 from $185.
- Stifel raised its price target to $200 from $170.
- Wedbush raised its price target from $185 to $225.
Shares of Facebook ended the week at $172.45, with a consensus analyst price target of $187.59 and a 52-week range of $113.55 to $175.49. Its market cap is nearly $500 billion.
Get Ready To Retire (Sponsored)
Start by taking a quick retirement quiz from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes, or less.
Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.
Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future
Get started right here.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
