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Meta Platforms (META) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $313.41, moving +1.32% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.85%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 5.61%.

Heading into today, shares of the social media company had gained 13.17% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 1.89% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.18% in that time.

Meta Platforms will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 26, 2023. On that day, Meta Platforms is projected to report earnings of $2.85 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.85%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $30.84 billion, up 6.99% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $11.97 per share and revenue of $127.22 billion, which would represent changes of +21.77% and +9.1%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Meta Platforms. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.32% higher. Meta Platforms is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

In terms of valuation, Meta Platforms is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.84. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 42.73.

It is also worth noting that META currently has a PEG ratio of 1.18. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.73 at yesterday's closing price.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 57, putting it in the top 23% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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