We recently published a list of 8 Best Robinhood Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) stands against other best Robinhood stocks to buy according to analysts.
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has announced quarterly retail investor pulse survey results. The majority of investors’ views were bullish. Investors began the year on the bullish (58%) note, in line with last quarter (59%). Furthermore, the results also revealed that around 2 out of 3 investors (64%) saw the market rising by the end of the quarter.
What’s On Retail Investors’ Minds?
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s survey revealed that inflation has been the top worry for investors’ portfolios at 45%, almost in line with the last quarter at 46%, with market volatility at 24% coming out to be the second. Notably, the concerns related to the new administration declined 13 percentage points since the last quarter. Furthermore, around 3 out of 5 (59%) of investors see that the broader US economy remains healthy. Chris Larkin, Managing Director, Head of Trading and Investing, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, stated that with any new administration taking power, the potential policy changes can bring uncertainty in the broader markets. That being said, investors are optimistic and resilient amid a soft start to the new year.
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
Current Trends in Retail Investing
Retail outflows from the US equities increased to ~$4 billion over the previous 2 weeks due to the uncertainties related to tariffs and increased economic concerns, which resulted in a strong pullback in the S&P 500, reported CNBC, while quoting data from Barclays. Rob Austin, director of research at Alight Solutions, says that if people tried to buy the dip, there would have been evidence hinting at the increased buying of the large-cap equities. On the contrary, people are selling large-cap equities. Austin believes that this seems to be a bit of a reactionary trading activity.
CNBC, while highlighting the comments made by Venu Krishna (Barclays head of U.S. equity strategy), reported that there remains sufficient capacity for the retail investors to further disengage from the broader equity market. Notably, Barclays’ proprietary euphoria indicator exhibited that the sentiments are down to the levels that were seen around the time of the US election back in November, but remain elevated by historic standards. The increased sell-off came as American households remained more sensitive than ever to the significant volatility in the broader equity markets.
Our Methodology
To list the 8 Best Robinhood Stocks to Buy According to Analysts, we sifted through several online rankings to shortlist the stocks trending on Robinhood. We also took help from the Robinhood Investor Index. Next, we chose the ones that analysts see significant upside to. Finally, the stocks were arranged in ascending order of their average upside potential, as of March 17. We also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock, 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).
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Average Upside Potential: ~28.7%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 261
Analyst Doug Anmuth from J.P. Morgan maintained a “Buy” rating on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock with a price objective of $725.00. The analyst’s rating is backed by a combination of factors that include the company’s healthy financial performance and strategic long-term investments. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s significant investments in capital expenditures and infrastructure can act as strategic advantages that can yield benefits over time. For FY 2025, the company expects its capital expenditures to be $60 billion – $65 billion. Furthermore, the company’s focus on advancements in artificial intelligence and the Metaverse remains in line with the critical technological trends, which can fuel future growth.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s strong focus on enhancing user experience and its healthy competitive position in the digital advertising space strengthens its prospects. The AI-driven services can result in new revenue streams in the enterprise market. The services can span from AI-powered customer service solutions to advanced analytics tools for businesses, enabling diversification of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s revenue over and above traditional advertising.
Rowan Street Capital, an investment management company, released 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 3rd on our list of best Robinhood stocks to buy according to analysts. 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.
