4 Reasons To Own Facebook Ahead Of Q4 Results

The recent 2017 ad survey demonstrated Facebook Inc FB's social leadership and rising video capabilities, Cowen’s John Blackledge said in a report. He added that the company could report its Q4 revenue and EBITDA ahead of the Street's current expectations.

Blackledge maintains an Outperform rating on Facebook, while raising the price target from $150 to $156.

4 Reasons To Own Facebook

1. Social Leadership: Cowen’s 2017 Proprietary Ad Survey indicated that ~75 percent of ad dollars were being allocated to the core Facebook platform and Instagram. Facebook continued to benefit from “having arguably the best user Targeting in the market,” which is the core driver of budget decisions, Blackledge mentioned.
2. Video Upstart: Facebook claims that it has become a video-first platform. The ad survey indicated that 17 percent of ad buyers would use FB Video for a standalone brand campaign, up from 10 percent in 2015.
3. Other Assets: Facebook’s next generation of assets includes Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. “We note survey respondents rated Instagram the #2 Social platform behind FB with a rating of 5.9 out of 10,” the analyst wrote.
4. Instagram Inflecting: Instagram recently reached the milestone of 600 million monthly average users, representing its fastest ever pace of user growth, “with user growth accelerating at massive scale.” Blackledge raised the Instagram revenue forecast for 2017 from $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion and for 20121 from $11.8 billion to $13 billion.