Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) has been having a good year. Its ongoing rally, which kicked off around this time in 2022, is continuing to go from strength to strength and analysts are calling for even more gains ahead in the coming weeks.
With an eye-watering market cap of $1.4 trillion, the Silicon Valley giant remains one of the most dominant forces in the tech industry and one of its most closely watched stocks. There's a good reason for this: Meta shares have gained more than 500% in value over the past 2 years. Much of this has been thanks to consistently strong earnings, resilient fundamentals, and rapid adoption of its advertising and AI technologies.
Even while experiencing several corrections this year, each dip has seen the stock being rapidly bought up, pointing to sustained investor demand. Indeed, earlier this month saw, Meta shares hit yet another record high.
As we round the corner into the last few weeks of the year, investors should be excited about Meta's potential. Let's take a look.
Fundamental Performance
To start with, it's worth noting Meta's earnings performance has been the bedrock of the current rally. They've established a strong track record of consistently beating earnings expectations, while delivering year-on-year revenue growth figures north of 20%.
This makes next week's earnings report all the more exciting, with the potential for Meta to set a new quarterly record revenue print that could top last year's high of $40 billion. Expectations are high for a large upside surprise as the company has been leveraging its scale and focus on AI in recent months.
Bullish Analyst Upgrades
Backing up this fundamental momentum is the fact that analysts are overwhelmingly bullish on Meta's outlook. Just this week, the team over at Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating, building on similarly bullish stances from the likes of TD Cowen, Mizuho, and Cantor Fitzgerald earlier this month. Jefferies, in their note to clients, set a new price target of $675 on Meta stock, which points to a targeted upside of nearly 20% from current levels.
It's almost impossible to ignore the sheet weight of bullish updates from these teams that suggest Meta's growth story remains very much intact. Every Buy rating this month has come with a price target north of $600, reinforcing the belief that the stock has plenty of room to run. As we head into next week's earnings, this momentum is fueling high expectations for continued growth, especially in the context of a broader stock market that's also trading near record highs.
Potential Concerns
However, it's not all smooth sailing for Meta. In a recent update, both Scotiabank and BMO Capital Markets reiterated their Neutral ratings on the stock, highlighting some caution for investors. They both cited regulatory pressures, increased competitions and high valuation concerns as reasons for their more cautious outlooks.
The stock has also slipped around 6% from its recent highs, which could suggest some investors are taking profit and reducing their exposure ahead of next week's earnings report. It will be interesting to see how shares trade through the end of the week and into Wednesday's release.
It has to be noted though that the number of bullish analyst updates continue to easily outweigh the more cautious ones, and the overall rally remains intact.
Getting Involved
For those of us on the sidelines, the technical setup is another strong argument for considering getting involved in the near-term. The Relative Strength Index is a technical indicator that measures whether a stock is overbought or oversold, with readings above 70 suggesting a stock is overbought, and readings below 30 suggesting the opposite. With an RSI of just 46 right now, Meta's stock has a ton to move higher before it's even close to being called overbought.
If you're a believer in Meta's long-term potential and like the look of some of those analyst price targets, it's hard not to view this pre-earnings dip as an almost perfect entry opportunity. At the very least, it's a stock worth keeping high on your watchlist.
