Media
Why Wall Street Is So Excited About Facebook Going Into Earnings
Published:
Last Updated:
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter financial results after the markets close on Wednesday. The consensus estimates are calling for $2.53 in earnings per share (EPS) and $20.89 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $2.38 in EPS and $16.91 billion in revenue.
Facebook continues to wrestle with the charge that people and foreign governments go on Facebook to lie about news, candidates and decisions that will drive the country’s future. Facebook says it has tried to help with the problem but that the number of posts on Facebook are in the hundreds of millions, or perhaps more, each day.
The social media giant also has had to fight off criticism that it is supportive of some dangerous comments as free speech. Politicians, for the most part, do not agree that free speech should contain lies meant to sway public opinion.
As the elections approach, Facebook will be under more scrutiny and likely will take more beatings from politicians, and its executives may have to make further appearances before Congress. Some will argue that Facebook should be broken into pieces. However, so far that does not look like Facebook’s eventual fate. It will remain a single, very powerful company.
Excluding Wednesday’s move, Facebook stock has outperformed the broad markets with a gain of about 48% in the past 52 weeks. In just the past quarter alone, the stock was up 16%.
Here’s what analysts had to say about Facebook in the week leading up to the report:
Facebook stock traded up about 1% at $219.68 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $145.70 to $222.75. The consensus analyst price target is $249.15.
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.