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

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: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.

Photo: Shutterstock.