Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) has changed society with its Facebook social media dominance. No other platform even comes close to its $1.1 trillion valuation, plus there is Instagram, Oculus, video and many more efforts. Meta’s stock appreciation has also changed the lives of long-term investors who stuck with the stock through its series of ups and downs.
The reaction to Meta’s second quarter earnings report added yet another 6% in the value of the stock. While Meta’s stock was up about 6% at $502.00 in Thursday’s mid-day trading, investors should keep in mind that the prior close was just under $475.00 and the 52-week range is $274.38 to $542.81. That put the stock down nearly 13% from its recent highs — well into “correction territory.”
Many of the analysts who panicked in May are reversing some major price target cuts that now may seem a bit premature.
Wall Street had already been strongly supporting the parent of Facebook’s stock for some time. Now the strong analyst price targets have been raised even higher calling for even more upside ahead.
Oggonomics has tracked well over a dozen analyst reports issuing positive calls and raising formal price targets for even more upside ahead. Please read the disclaimer about analyst calls at the end.
This review is featuring price target changes first because most firms simply reiterated their prior positive Buy/Outperform analyst ratings in the coverage.
Baird raised its price target to $530 from $500 and reiterated its Outperform rating.
Barclays raised its price target to $550 from $520 and reiterated its Overweight rating.
BofA raised its price objective to $563 from $550 and reiterated its Buy rating.
Citi raised its price target to $580 from $550 and reiterated its Buy rating.
Evercore ISI raised its price target to $600 from $550 and reiterated its Outperform rating.
Goldman Sachs raised its target to $555 from $522 and reiterated its Buy rating.
Guggenheim raised its target to $600 from $500 and reiterated its Buy rating.
Jefferies raised its target to $600 from $565 and reiterated its Buy rating.
JPMorgan raised its price target to $610 from $480 and reiterated its Overweight rating.
KeyBanc raised its price target to $560 from $540 and reiterated its Overweight rating.
Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $575 from $550 and reiterated its Overweight rating.
Oppenheimer raised its price target to $615 from $525 and reiterated its Outperform rating.
Stifel raised its price target to $590 from $550 and reiterated its Buy rating.
Susquehanna raised its price target to $600 from $550 and reiterated its Positive rating.
Truist raised its price objective to $570 from $535 and reiterated its Buy rating.
UBS raised its price target to $635 from $630 and reiterated its Buy rating.
Wedbush raised its target to $600 from $570 and reiterated its Outperform rating.
Wells Fargo raised its price target to $647 from $625 and reiterated its Overweight rating.
Oggonomics would remind readers and investors that no single analyst call should ever act as the sole reason to buy or sell a stock. Whether that holds true when more than a dozen analysts create an upgrade brigade should be considered on a case by case basis.
Whether you see one “Buy” rating or a dozen similar ratings, there are never any assurances or guarantees that the projected upside scenarios will come to fruition. The stock could even fall.
