Shares of social media company Meta Platforms (META) were little changed in today’s trading as investors await its Q2 earnings results on July 31 after the market opens. Analysts are expecting earnings per share to come in at $4.70 on revenue of $38.31 billion. This equates to 57.7% and 19.8% year-over-year increases, respectively, according to TipRanks’ data.
This is ideal because earnings per share should grow faster than revenue as this demonstrates a high degree of operating and financial leverage in the business. It’s also worth noting that Meta has beaten earnings estimates for five consecutive quarters.
Website Traffic Trends
TipRanks’ Website Traffic Tool offers information on how a company’s website domain performed over a specific time frame.
For META, TipRanks’ website traffic screener reveals that the traffic decreased sequentially but increased from the year-ago quarter in Q2. According to the tool, total estimated visits on all devices decreased by 23.33% sequentially in Q2. However, website traffic increased by 14.49% on a year-over-year basis.
Options Traders Anticipate a Large Move
Using TipRanks’ Options tool, we can see what options traders are expecting from the stock immediately after its earnings report. The expected earnings move is determined by calculating the at-the-money straddle of the options closest to expiration after the earnings announcement. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry, the Options tool does this for you. Indeed, it currently says that options traders are expecting a large 9.24% move in either direction.
Is Meta a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 23 Buys, two Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months. After a 46% increase in its share price over the past 12 months, the average META price target of $550 per share implies an upside potential of 18.1% from current levels.
