How to Buy Facebook Stock
Meta Platforms Inc
Meta Platforms, Inc. engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide.
Facebook stock last closed at $468.24, up 0.55% from the previous day, and has increased 100.73% in one year. It has overperformed other stocks in the Internet Content & Information industry by 0.66 percentage points. Facebook stock is currently +102.95% from its 52-week low of $230.72, and -11.9% from its 52-week high of $531.49.
As of May 7, 2024, there are 2.54B shares of META outstanding. The market value of META is $1.19T. In the past 24 hours, 13.31M META shares were traded.
How to Buy Facebook Stock
Not sure how to invest in Facebook stock? Here's how.
- Figure out where to buy Facebook stock: You need to choose an online brokerage, but don't worry - we've sifted through dozens of stock brokerages and apps to help you choose where to buy Facebook stock.
- Sign up for your brokerage account: Sign up for 0% fee trading with the highest-rated brokerage we've found.
- Deposit funds into your investment account: Choose your payment method and add your details.
- Evaluate Facebook stock: The Facebook ticker symbol is META. Is Facebook stock a good investment? Should you buy shares of META? How do META's underlying business fundamentals look? Do top analysts think Facebook is a good buy? Why has META's stock price moved recently? (Hint: Our stock market analysis tools can help you decide if META is a good stock to buy).
- Make your META buy order: Decide if you will purchase META shares at the current market price or use a limit order to purchase META stock at a specific price.
- Keep an eye on your META position: Create a watchlist to important updates regarding your investment in Facebook shares.
Step 1: Figure out where to buy Facebook stock
You will need an online brokerage account to access the NASDAQ market and buy META shares.
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Open eToro AccountStep 2: Sign up for your brokerage account
Now that you've picked your brokerage, it's time to fill out some personal information so you can buy META today.
How to Create a New Account on eToro
- Click here to get started.eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
- Provide your personal data to start a new brokerage account.
- Submit your details by hitting the "Create Account" button. Get started with eToro today
Step 3: Deposit funds into your investment account
Now that you've filled out your info on a good stock buying app, you can securely and quickly fund your account:
Watch the video below for more details depositing funds into your brokerage account.
Step 4: Evaluate Facebook stock
After you have figured out the best place to buy Facebook stock, it's crucial to research their stock prior to investing, so you can comprehend the risk as well as the opportunity.
Overview of key META info
Facebook Fundamentals
WallStreetZen was created to help everyday investors perform more accurate fundamental analysis.
You can view all of the due diligence checks on META's stock page.
Is META stock properly valued?
You can use a variety of different financial metrics, analyses, models, and charts to gauge META's true value.
Using relative valuations measures:
- META may be overvalued based on its P/E ratio of 26.23x, relative to Internet Content & Information industry P/E ratio of 16.17x
- META may be overvalued based on its P/B ratio of 7.94x, relative to Internet Content & Information industry P/B ratio of 6.62x
You can access more valuation research on META's stock here.
How do META Financials look?
Positive Health Checks:
- There are more short-term assets than long-term liabilities on the META balance sheet.
- There are more short-term assets than short-term liabilities on the META balance sheet.
- META earnings of $54.30B is not sufficient to cover its interest payments.
- META's operating cash flow of $76.36B allows it to safely service it's debt of $37.63B.
- META profit margin has gone up from 18.3% to 32.1% in the past year.
Negative Health Checks:
- META has a relatively high debt to equity ratio of 0.49.
- Total META debt is higher than 5 years ago, relative to shareholder equity.
Do analysts think it's a good time to buy META stock
Out of 33 Wall Street analysts who give ratings on META, the consensus analyst rating on META is a Strong Buy
It's important to keep in mind that analyst forecasts are not stock recommendations, nor are they financial advice.
Latest META Analyst Recommendations
John Blackledge, a bottom 5% analyst from TD Cowen maintains META with a strong buy rating and lowers their META price target from $590.00 to $530.00, on Apr 25, 2024.
Youssef Squali, a top 1% analyst from Truist Securities maintains META with a strong buy rating and lowers their META price target from $550.00 to $535.00, on Apr 25, 2024.
Justin Patterson, a top 10% analyst from KeyBanc maintains META with a strong buy rating and lowers their META price target from $555.00 to $475.00, on Apr 25, 2024.
Benjamin Black, a top 8% analyst from Deutsche Bank maintains META with a strong buy rating and lowers their META price target from $540.00 to $500.00, on Apr 25, 2024.
Andrew Boone, a top 5% analyst from JMP Securities maintains META with a buy rating and lowers their META price target from $550.00 to $525.00, on Apr 25, 2024.
JMP Securities's Andrew Boone lowered their price target on Facebook (NASDAQ: META) by 4.5% from $550 to $525 on 2024/04/25. The analyst maintained their Buy rating on the stock.
The analyst's move followed their assessment of Facebook's Q1 2024 earnings report and participation in the earnings call on 2024/04/24.
Boone summed up the print with: "Facebook reported in line Q1 revenue but Q2 revenue guidance that missed the consensus by 1.5% while at the same time increasing its 2024 Opex and Capex outlooks and declaring that it is in a multiyear AI investment cycle driven."
According to the analyst, JMP Securities' view is that Facebook is "well-positioned to benefit from AI increasing engagement and advertising efficiency."
Growth is sustainable in spite of more difficult comps, Boone said to close out their analysis.
Earnings Report
For Q1 2024, Facebook (Meta Platforms) reported:
- EPS of $4.71, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.03% and, by 114.1%, Q1 2023's $2.20.
- Revenue of $36.46B, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.48% and Q1 2023's $28.65B by 27.3%.
- Capex of $6.72B, down Q/Q from $7.9B.
- Free cash flow of $12.53B, up Q/Q from $11.51B.
- The repurchase of $14.64B in shares and payment of a dividend worth $1.27B.
Management guided:
- For Q2 2024:
- Revenue of $36.5B to $39B.
For FY 2024:
- Capex of $35B to $40B, up from the prior guidance of $30B to $37B.
- Total expenses of $96B to $99B.
- Reality Labs’ operating losses are expected to increase Y/Y.
In addition to the financial guidance, during the earnings call CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on Facebook’s AI and metaverse initiatives and investments associated with them. Zuckerberg said that the company now expects to invest significantly more over the next few years to develop more advanced models and the largest AI services in the world, but that monetizing those AI services will take considerable time (“several years”).
In terms of the impact on investors of the company's initiatives, Zuckerberg said during the earnings call: "I think it's worth calling out that we've historically seen a lot of volatility in our stock during this phase of our product playbook ‐‐ where we're investing in scaling a new product but aren't yet monetizing it.
"We saw this with Reels, Stories, as News Feed transitioned to mobile and more. I also expect to see a multi‐year investment cycle before we've fully scaled Meta AI, business AIs, and more into the profitable services I expect as well.
"Historically, investing to build these new scaled experiences in our apps has been a very good long-term investment for us and for investors who have stuck with us. "
Investors may wish to review the full text of Mr. Zuckerberg's comments here.
You can dive deeper into what analysts are projecting on the Facebook stock forecast page.
Metrics for Advanced META Traders
META Growth Metrics
Last year, META earnings were $45.76B. During the past 5 year, META's earnings have increased by 21.36% per year. This was slower than the Internet Content & Information industry average of 22.53%.
Last year, META revenue was $142.71B. Over the past 5 year, META's revenue has grown by 19.34% per year. This was slower than the Internet Content & Information industry average of 19.67%.
You can analyze META's earnings and revenue performance here.
Are META insiders buying or selling the stock?
In the past 12 months, executives and large shareholders at META have sold more shares than they have bought.
Javier Olivan, Chief Operating Officer of META, was the latest META insider to sell. They sold $218,505.70 worth of META shares on May 3, 2024.
Dig into more about who owns META stock here.
Does META provide a stable income stream?
Facebook pays a dividend of 0.11%, compared to the Internet Content & Information industry's average dividend yield of 18.46%. If you owned $1,000 worth of META stock, you would have been paid $1.07 last year.
Dig into more data about Facebook dividend yield and history here.
What others are saying about META
One of the reasons eToro is our top-rated brokerage is because of its social trading community.
Click below to see what other community members have to say.
Step 5: Make your META buy order
You have two primary options:
- Market order: A market order is an order to buy or sell a security at the best possible price.
Market orders are mostly fine for most investors. - Limit order: A limit order is an order to buy or sell a stock at a specific price (or better).
If you want to ensure you're buying or selling at a specific price limit, place a limit order.
Press the Open button and your broker will place your order.
If you want additional help buying stocks on eToro, click the helpful video below:
Step 6: Keep an eye on your META position
Now that you own some shares in META, you'll want to stay up-to-date on your investment.
Make a watchlist to see the latest developments about your META stock.
META Feed
How to Buy Stock in Facebook
To reiterate, here are the 6 steps for buying Facebook stock:
- Figure out where to buy Facebook stock
- Sign up for your brokerage account
- Deposit funds into your investment account
- Evaluate Facebook stock
- Make your META buy order
- Keep an eye on your META position
If you are looking for a online brokerage, eToro is our recommended venue.
Get Started with eToro TodayIf you want to keep an eye on your investment in Facebook, create a watchlist today.
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