Facebook (FB) Q2 'Exemplified Steady Growth', Nomura Says; Maintains Buy and $115 pt

Nomura Securities analyst Anthony DiClemente reiterated his Buy rating and $115 price target on Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) following Q2 results.

DiClemente commented, "2Q results for Facebook exemplified steady growth, as across the board, results came in modestly higher than expected. User growth and engagement continues to ascend at Facebook, and monetization – as measured by both ARPU and price-per-ad – continues to exceed expectations, albeit more modestly. Management noted FX headwinds and 2H YoY deceleration in ad revenue growth, given the increased scale of the business. Notably, we believe Facebook is in the process of demonstrating care for resource allocation, as both opex and capex came in below our expectations, with the guidance ranges for both coming down versus previous. We reiterate our Buy rating and $115 target price, based on our sum-of-the-parts methodology, which implies 35x multiple of discounted 2017E EPS of $3.74."

The firm maintained FY 2015 EPS of $2.07 and raised FY 2016 EPS from $2.68 to $2.70.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Facebook click here. For more ratings news on Facebook click here.

Shares of Facebook closed at $96.99 yesterday.

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