Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald and RBC Capital Markets released their expectations for shares of Facebook Inc (FB) ahead of the company’s earnings report Jan. 30. Both have set their estimates just below consensus, but they’ve both taken a bullish stance on the stock.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares have been rising steadily all day, as investors prepare for next week’s earnings report. The stock has risen 2 percent since the opening bell this morning. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) released its expectations for the company last week, and today we have investor reports from analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald and RBC Capital Markets.
Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald say they expect Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s fourth quarter 2012 results to be strong. They expect the results to show that the company is accelerating sequentially in mobile ad revenues. The analysts estimate that mobile revenues could reach as high as 25 to 30 percent of the company’s overall advertising revenue, which they estimate to be around $300 million for the quarter.
The analysts have set their estimates just slightly below the consensus, although they note that in this case the consensus estimates that are out are quite wide. They expected to see strong ad growth “fueled by mobile ad formats.” They estimate that the company’s ad revenue will grow 33.8 percent year over year. They also believe Facebook’s payments and other fees revenue to decelerate to 9.8 percent year over year because of the loss of the site’s relationship with Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA).
Cantor Fitzgerald analysts are maintaining their Buy rating on shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and have set their price target on the stock at $33 per share.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said they have also set their estimates slightly below consensus. Like Cantor Fitzgerald analysts, they highlight the importance of mobile advertising revenue. They expect a “significant” increase in the percentage of ad revenue that mobile ads made up in the fourth quarter.
“We continue to like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares and view the company as arguably the most under-leveraged name in the Internet sector,” the analysts wrote. RBC Capital analysts have reiterated their Outperform rating and their $31 per share price target.
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