Facebook rallies ahead of earnings
- Wall Street expects Facebook to deliver earnings of $2.23 a share on revenue of $12.54 billion.
- Forty-two out of 47 analysts rate the stock a buy.
- One analyst sees the stock at $220 in a year.
Facebook will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes on Wednesday, with shares gaining ground ahead of the results. The stock trades up almost 1% ahead of results, hovering just below its all-time high.
Analysts expect Facebook to earn $2.23 a share on revenue of $12.54 billion. Wall Street is bullish on the stock, with 42 analysts rating it a buy and just two rating it a sell.
Victor Anthony, an analyst at Aegis Capital, wrote in a note to clients that "our checks have once again been bullish on spend on Facebook and Instagram, with advertisers citing an increase in pricing" by an estimated 30% year-over-year. He adds, "Instagram's ad loads have increased and brand spend on Instagram Stories shot up in 4Q2017" as the platform continued to steal Snapchat users for its stories platform.
Anthony has a price target of $220 a share, 3.3% above of the consensus estimate of $212.79.
