For the last few weeks, tech stocks have experienced a major drop in the charts, but on Wednesday, these stocks started to turn around, including Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). On March 4th, Facebook hit its year-to-date high, followed shortly thereafter by a 20% dip, but Facebook just rose 7.3%, its best day of gains since January 30. Despite the latest fall, analysts are still recommending BUY Facebook, pointing to advertising strength and potential growth.
Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser upgraded his HOLD rating to a BUY Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) rating and also raised his price target from $66 to $72. Brian acknowledged Facebook’s gains on Wednesday, arguing that Facebook has room to grow even more. “Although the stock posted strong gains yesterday, we think there is more room for the stock to run ahead of and probably after the company’s 1Q14 earnings. While consensus estimates appear to be in-line with our estimates for the current quarter, we think estimates for later in the year are probably under-stated.” Brian is ranked 29 out of 2979 analysts, with a +7.8% average return over S&P-500 and a 71% success rate of recommendations.
Brian saw recent success recommending BUY Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) earlier this year on January 30. Brian reiterated his BUY rating noting, “Facebook reported 4Q13 results that were better than our forecasts, which themselves were well above consensus. The company posted 76% ad revenue growth, an acceleration from 3Q13.” Brian also added that, “the company is exercising discipline with its expenses while it continues to expand rapidly.” This recommendation earned Brian +9.3% over S&P-500.
SunTrust analyst Robert Peck also recommended BUY Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) with a $70 price target after analyzing general ad trends that favored Facebook. After a meeting with an executive from ad buying startup, Nanigans, Robert realized that “Q1 ad trends were stronger at quarter’s end than when they started out.” Robert noted, “The rollout of video ads is encouraging more Brand spending (as opposed to just DR). Three other drivers of growth include 1) Instagram progressing, as advertisers are very interested to reach Millennial demographic; 2) mobile network off Facebook; and 3) Facebook showing professionalism integrating with Nielsen and working a deal with Omnicom.” Robert has a 75% success rate recommending Facebook, which has helped him earn the 132 spot out of 2979 analysts, with a +7.1% average return over S&P-500 and a 57% success rate of recommended stocks.
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