Is META stock still a buy?

Up more than 30% in 2024 is Meta Platforms (Meta Platforms Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials NASDAQ:META) still a buy?

Yes, says Roth MKM analyst Rohit Kulkarni, who in an update to clients April 23 reiterated his “Buy” rating and price target of $500.00 on META.

The analyst says META will have to come up big to keep the momentum going. The company’s first quarter results are due April 24, after the market close.

“META shares are +36% YTD vs. SPX +5%, after +194% in 2023 vs. S&P 500 +24%,” he noted. “In the past couple of weeks, shares are -8.5% vs. S&P -4%, implying overly ambitious buyside expectations have somewhat declined. Yet, we are marginally cautious heading into 1Q earnings as ’24 quarterly revenue cadence under tougher YoY comps, incremental growth drivers, and impact from European regulations are big unresolved debates among investors.”

Kulkarni thinks META will post EPS of $20.40 on revenue of $159.7-billion in fiscal 2024. He expects those numbers will improve to EPS of $22.19 on a topline of $174.5-billion in fiscal 2025.

The analyst says some of the top debates around META right now are whether or not it can beat the street with its first quarter results, what will drive incremental growth in 2024, and European regulations, which he describes as “an unknown risk that’s fairly tricky to put a framework around”.

“Our 12-month price target of $500 is based on 22.0x ’25E EPS (ex-Cash) and implies 22.5x GAAP P/E ’25E and 24.5x GAAP P/E ’24E,” the analyst concluded.