Facebook – Zacks: Brokerages Expect Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) Will Announce Quarterly Sales of $26.23 Billion

Analysts expect Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) to announce $26.23 billion in sales for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Thirteen analysts have issued estimates for Facebook’s earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $25.41 billion and the highest is $26.93 billion. Facebook posted sales of $21.08 billion in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 24.4%. The firm is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 3rd.

On average, analysts expect that Facebook will report full-year sales of $84.19 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $83.31 billion to $85.03 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the business will report sales of $104.83 billion, with estimates ranging from $100.11 billion to $107.85 billion. Zacks’ sales averages are an average based on a survey of research firms that cover Facebook.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $21.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.78 billion. Facebook had a return on equity of 23.27% and a net margin of 32.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share.

FB has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $330.00 price target on Facebook and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on Facebook from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Facebook from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $330.00 price target on Facebook and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on shares of Facebook from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Facebook has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $295.21.

In related news, CAO Susan J.S. Taylor sold 1,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.90, for a total value of $310,602.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,936.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jennifer Newstead sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.00, for a total transaction of $85,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $521,314. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 973,986 shares of company stock valued at $268,609,895 in the last ninety days. 14.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Facebook by 0.5% in the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,704,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,232,150,000 after acquiring an additional 21,732 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Facebook by 9.1% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 93,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,468,000 after buying an additional 7,780 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Facebook by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 776,554 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $203,379,000 after buying an additional 11,169 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Facebook by 1.4% during the third quarter. Burney Co. now owns 61,960 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,227,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aevitas Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Facebook by 20.0% during the third quarter. Aevitas Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,476 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. 59.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NASDAQ FB opened at $273.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $778.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.19. Facebook has a 1 year low of $137.10 and a 1 year high of $304.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $275.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.93.

Facebook Company Profile

Facebook, Inc develops products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and in-home devices worldwide. The company’s products include Facebook that enables people to connect, share, discover, and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, groups, and businesses across platforms and devices; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate in a private way.

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