Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) was one of today’s notable movers, up as much as 2.6 percent. The fresh all-time high of $129.94 was printed after Baird’s analyst Colin Sebastian this morning said in a research report [via Benzinga] that concerns surrounding the social networking giant’s growth prospects ‘seem overblown’.
According to Sebastian, Facebook’s targeting mastery in targeting and retargeting 1.7 billion monthly users will allow the company to continue gaining a disproportionate share of ad dollars for years to come. The analyst notes that concerns over a moderating ad load growth – Facebook is at the center of the media world with more than 2.5 million advertisers – are “short-sighted and don’t factor in Facebook’s higher click-through-rate and mix.” Moreover, the analyst points out “Facebook’s ability to control ad loads is designed to optimize the user experience and keep engagement high.”
Sebastian, who has an ‘Outperform’ rating and a 12-month base case estimate of $155 on FB shares, said the name remains one of his FY2016 Top Internet picks. He believes there is “likely upside” to consensus revenue and margin targets. Sebastian’s target price suggests a potential upside of about 20 percent from the company’s current price-per-share of $129.73.
Facebook Stock Action
Shares of the leading social networking company Tuesday surged more than 3 points to make the Menlo Park, California-based firm worth “only” $373.54 billion. FB currently prints a one year return of about 47%, and a year-to-date return of around 24%.
During today’s trading session, the stock opened at $126.67 and kept printing higher highs for the majority of the morning, before settling into an intraday range of $129 to $129.50 with its 52-week range being $85.72 to $129.94. Some continuation could set ticker up for a break above $130, a move that could bring in more buyers and consequently lead to additional upside momentum. Issue looks tight so keep an eye on this trade.
Facebook went public in May 18, 2012 at $38 a share, giving the company a market value of $104 billion at the time. Little more than four years later, shares have spiked 239%, surpassing the impressive 68% gain by the S&P 500 during the same period.
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