FB stock hit an all time high on Thursday, printing the tape pre-market at $120.40. That’s a 67.22% rise, or $48.40 per share, from the 52-week low of $72.00 set in August 24, 2015. At that price, Facebook’s market value is over $320 billion.
The social media giant crushed earnings yesterday, as Q1 2016 results came in ahead of estimates across all metrics in a strong start to the year. Facebook (FB) reported EPS of $0.77 on revenues of $5.38 billion versus Street expectations of $0.62 per share on revenues of $5.26 billion. Most importantly, Facebook beat on monthly active users (MAUs), bringing its total to 1.65 billion, where expectations were at 1.62 billion. A massive beat by any count not only in terms of revenue and EPS, but also MAUs. Facebook has now captured almost half of all internet users around the world, quelling investor fears of an ad slowdown on the platform.
Incidentally, JP Morgan (JPM) and Evercore ISI have just raised their price target on FB stock to $161 from $136, and to $155 from $150 per share, respectively.
Valuation Measures
Facebook’s rally to over $120 a share has left it trading at 84x this year’s forecasted earnings, compared to the industry’s 16.73x earnings multiple. The company’s current year and next year EPS growth estimates stand at 38.20% and 32.10%, compared to the industry growth rates of 11.50% and 23.20%, respectively. FB has a t-12 price-to-sales ratio of 17.29. EPS for the same period registers at $1.29.
Facebook closed at $108.89 at the end of Wednesday’s trading session, printing a one-year return of about 35% and year-to-date return of around 4%. The name has now more than doubled since its debut in the spring of 2012.
The chart below shows where the equity has traded over the past year.
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