Meta Platforms is primed for a big quarter with ads, AI push

by | Jan 31, 2024 | Stock Market

A rebound in advertising, the threat of regulation and the specter of AI are the overriding narrative themes when Meta Platforms Inc. reports its fourth-quarter results on Thursday. Analysts are okay with that. “Firing on All Cylinders,” Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said in a note Sunday, jacking his price target on Meta
META,
-1.02%
shares to $455 from $425. “Our recent digital ad checks have been the most positive we’ve seen in severalyears.”

In raising his price target to $435 from $390, Seaport Research Partners analyst Aaron Kessler is looking at robust ad growth and outlook, an updated outlook on 2024 operating expenses, the impact of regulation on content for teens, and how AI initiatives will expand Meta’s business. [Meta is expected to escalate spending next year on Reality Labs as the company continues to develop its virtual-reality and augmented-reality push.] To that end, Wells Fargo Securities analyst Ken Gawrelski is bullish on the immediate future: He models first-quarter revenue of between $33 billion to $35 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet expect $33.9 billion. Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney predicts advertising revenue of $38.9 billion, 2% above the Street’s model. He says monthly active users should improve 2% to 3.03 billion. The twin revenue engines of ads and AI are a compel …

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnA rebound in advertising, the threat of regulation and the specter of AI are the overriding narrative themes when Meta Platforms Inc. reports its fourth-quarter results on Thursday. Analysts are okay with that. “Firing on All Cylinders,” Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said in a note Sunday, jacking his price target on Meta
META,
-1.02%
shares to $455 from $425. “Our recent digital ad checks have been the most positive we’ve seen in severalyears.”

In raising his price target to $435 from $390, Seaport Research Partners analyst Aaron Kessler is looking at robust ad growth and outlook, an updated outlook on 2024 operating expenses, the impact of regulation on content for teens, and how AI initiatives will expand Meta’s business. [Meta is expected to escalate spending next year on Reality Labs as the company continues to develop its virtual-reality and augmented-reality push.] To that end, Wells Fargo Securities analyst Ken Gawrelski is bullish on the immediate future: He models first-quarter revenue of between $33 billion to $35 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet expect $33.9 billion. Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney predicts advertising revenue of $38.9 billion, 2% above the Street’s model. He says monthly active users should improve 2% to 3.03 billion. The twin revenue engines of ads and AI are a compel …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]

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