Momentum stocks like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) were severely hammered last week. As the chart by David Scutt shows, Facebook shares plunged 5.4%, Twitter fell 8.8%, while LinkedIn sank as much as 13% just last week. As a new week begins, a big question is to what extent these momentum stocks will keep being crushed.
Facebook down about 20% since last month
These momentum stocks declined by meaningful percentages through Thursday and Friday last week. While the Nasdaq plummeted, the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to intraday record highs on Friday. According to Sam Ro of Business Insider, the heavy selloff in these stocks was due to “internal correction” as investors moved to boring but stable large-cap stocks, and away from these high-flying momentum stocks.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares traded above $72 on March 11, but the stock closed Friday at $56.75. The stock declined as much as 7% when the social networking giant announced the acquisition of Oculus VR for $2 billion. Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) suffered a big blow when New York University professor Scott Galloway questioned its current valuation at the Ad Age Digital conference on April 2. Galloway said the stock isn’t worth even $10. He compared Twitter to LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) which trades at around 20 times its revenue. LinkedIn’s revenue stream is more diversified than Twitter. While Twitter depends on advertising, LinkedIn generates revenues from the subscription business, advertising and job-seeking.
LinkedIn has topped bottom-line estimates in each of last eight quarters
LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) has been declining steadily since late October 2013 when the stock traded above $250. Forty rating firms that cover the stock have a consensus recommendation of Hold. While three research firms have a Sell rating, 13 rate LinkedIn a Buy and 11 have rated it as Hold. The company is scheduled to report its first quarter earnings on April 28. The company has topped bottom-line estimates in each of the past eight quarters. But post-earnings reaction has been extremely volatile.
Michael Kahn of Barrons says that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is positioned for a bull run. Shares of the world’s largest social media company went down 1.14% to $56.13 in the early trading session Monday.
