Upgrade to SI Premium - Free Trial

Facebook (FB) On Track To Meet Revenue And Beat EBITDA Forecasts - Cowen

April 11, 2019 7:37 AM

Cowen analyst John Blackledge reiterated an Outperform rating and $195.00 price target on Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and expects 1Q19 results to reflect revenue in line with consensus but EBITDA 4% above. He is modeling EBITDA margins of ~30%, nearly in line with 2H18 levels but well below historical trend. The analyst's proprietary US survey data suggests further moderating Core but IG continuing to rise.

The analyst stated "Our proprietary US survey data suggests Core FB usage continues to trend down, while IG time spent trends up. In 1Q19, FB users spent ~49 minutes/day (on avg.) on Core FB, down 7% y/y and down 4% q/q, as changes to promote more social interactions (and less consumption of mindless videos) implemented in late '17 may still be impacting engagement. If Core FB users increase adoption of Stories, it could drive overall engagement higher. As for Instagram, users spent ~34 minutes/day on the platform in 1Q19, up ~3% y/y. Since 1Q17, IG time spent has increased by ~10%, with rising engagement with Stories likely driving overall time spent up".

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 $178.00 yesterday.

Categories

Analyst Comments