Meta Platforms (META) Suffers a Larger Drop Than the General Market: Key Insights

The latest trading session saw Meta Platforms (META) ending at $611.30, denoting a -0.94% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.21% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.16%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.89%.Coming into today, shares of the social media company had gained 3.34% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 2.15%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.56%.Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Meta Platforms in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on January 29, 2025. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $6.75, showcasing a 26.64% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $46.98 billion, indicating a 17.11% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Meta Platforms should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% higher. At present, Meta Platforms boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).From a valuation perspective, Meta Platforms is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.5. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 28.24.Meanwhile, META's PEG ratio is currently 1.22. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Internet - Software industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.19.The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 33, which puts it in the top 14% of all 250+ industries.The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks