Analysts Lift Price Targets On Meta Platforms Stock Ahead Of Q3 Earnings: Here's Why

Meta Platforms Inc META shares are trading narrowly higher Thursday. Multiple analysts raised price targets ahead of earnings in two weeks. Here’s what you need to know.

What To Know: Mizuho analyst James Lee maintained Meta with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $600 to $650 as he anticipates a beat-and-raise quarter from the tech giant later this month.

The Mizuho analyst noted that a series of ad agency checks shows that ad spending is ahead of consensus estimates and at the high-end of Meta’s guidance for 20% growth year-over-year. Lee believes the strength in ad spending is being driven by political advertising.

“Although the stock is a crowded trade into the print, we believe it is the only big tech internet name that could beat and raise with substantial optionality in messaging and Gen-AI for creative,” the analyst said.

See Also: Meta’s AI Open-Source Claims Draw Criticism, OSI Pushes For Transparency

TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge also released a positive update on Meta on Thursday. The analyst maintained Meta with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $600 to $675 ahead of earnings.

Meta is scheduled to report third-quarter financial results after the market close on Oct. 30. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $5.23 per share and revenue of $40.238 billion, according to estimates from Benzinga Pro.

Last quarter, Meta beat analyst estimates as revenue jumped 11% year-over-year and daily actives climbed 7%. The company noted at the time that ads delivered were up 34% year-over-year, while the average price per ad was down 16%.

“We had a good quarter. We continue to see strong engagement across our apps and we have the most exciting roadmap I’ve seen in a while with Llama 2, Threads, Reels, new AI products in the pipeline, and the launch of Quest 3 this fall,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the second-quarter earnings release.

Meta has exceeded analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines in six consecutive quarters, according to Benzinga data.

META Price Action: Meta shares were up 0.11% at $577.44 at the time of publication. Meta shares are up approximately 63% year-to-date, per Benzinga Pro.

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