We recently published a list of 12 Best Quality Stocks to Invest in Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) stands against other best quality stocks to invest in now.
Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, believes that a significant rebound is in the offing, despite the tough start to the year. The strategist opines that there is a possibility of ~10% – 15% bounce over the coming months. In an interview with CNBC, he stated his expectations about March, April, and May witnessing the rally. Therefore, missing critical trading days can be a mistake for investors.
What Lies Ahead?
Lee believes that investors can consider buying as the markets are unsettled. In an interview with CNBC, he went on to explain that the market’s 10 best days last year resulted in the addition of up to 20 percentage points for the broader S&P 500. However, if we exclude these 10 days, the index increased by only 4%. According to him, the best days might be around the corner. If there are tensions related to the growth or related to the employment market, Trump or the US Fed can intervene to bring some stability. These are the favourable catalysts for the upcoming weeks, says Lee. Overall, he believes that a large chunk of the bad news has been priced in as markets have seen a significant decline.
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
Signs of Economic Strength Remain
Morningstar, while echoing the views of Adam Hetts (Janus Henderson Investors portfolio manager), mentioned that the longer-term perspective is expected to provide investors a silver lining. Hetts believes that there are bright spots in the international markets such as Europe and China, that have surpassed the performance of the US stocks since the beginning of the year. Even though the mega-cap tech stocks have been declining, they are getting cheaper as compared with the elevated valuations just a few months ago.
According to experts, there are several signs of economic strength. Gus Faucher, chief economist for PNC Financial Services Group, told Morningstar that consumers continue to spend amidst weakness in the sentiment data. Also, the labor market has been holding up. Overall, the chief economist doesn’t see any sort of fundamental weaknesses in the broader economy that can signal a problem. As per Morningstar chief US market strategist David Sekera, the investors are required to focus on the fundamentals and valuations, while maintaining a long-term view.
Our Methodology
To list the 12 Best Quality Stocks to Invest in Now, we sifted through the holdings of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF. Next, we chose the stocks that are popular among hedge funds. Finally, the stocks were arranged in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment, as of Q4 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A team of developers working in unison to create the company’s messaging application.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262
Analyst Justin Post from Bank of America Securities reiterated a “Buy” rating on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock, setting a price objective of $710.00. The analyst’s rating is backed by a combination of factors that demonstrate the company’s expanding AI capabilities, which can enhance ad revenues and fuel higher advertiser ROI. Furthermore, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) remains focused on monetizing its messaging services and exploring new revenue streams from untapped assets such as Threads and Marketplace.
As per the analyst, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s disciplined cost management further strengthens its favourable outlook. There remains a potential for an ad spend shift because of disruptions from competitors, which can benefit Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META). As per FT, the company has reduced its equity-based awards for the bulk of its employees amidst its focus on significant investments into AI projects and infrastructure. The company anticipates FY 2025 capital expenses in the range of $60 billion – $65 billion. The development of generative AI tools such as Llama and Meta AI results in fresh possibilities for user engagement and content creation.
Rowan Street Capital, an investment management company, published the Q4 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META): Investment Initiated: April 2018: Internal Rate of Return (IRR*): 22% *IRR represents the annualized rate of return on an investment, accounting for the timing and magnitude of cash flows over the holding period.
For META, our 22% IRR aligns closely with the company’s compounded growth in earnings per share (EPS) and free cash flow per share during the 6 years holding period.
Looking ahead, Meta is expected to grow its revenues, earnings, and free cash flow per share at mid-teens rates over the next two years. There’s a good possibility that it could exceed these estimates, considering the breadth of growth initiatives currently in place, such as advancements in Al, monetization of Reels, expansion into business messaging, and the ongoing development of the metaverse…” (Click here to read the full text)
Overall, META ranks 2nd on our list of best quality stocks to invest in now. While we acknowledge the potential of META as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than META but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
