Facebook (FB) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Facebook (FB) closed at $307.82, marking a +1.65% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 1.11% gain on the day.

Coming into today, shares of the social media company had gained 10.91% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 8.47%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.72%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from FB as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 28, 2021. In that report, analysts expect FB to post earnings of $2.37 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 38.6%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $23.67 billion, up 33.46% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.35 per share and revenue of $108.29 billion. These totals would mark changes of +12.49% and +25.97%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for FB should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.67% higher within the past month. FB is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

In terms of valuation, FB is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 27.23. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 32.57.

We can also see that FB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.42. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Internet - Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.84 at yesterday's closing price.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 151, which puts it in the bottom 41% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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