Skip to Content (Press Enter)

Swing Trade
Stock & Crypto
Market Trends 🔥

Trading Twenty is a stock and crypto swing trading platform
for traders dedicated to changing their destiny one trade at a time.

Already have an account? Log in

Follow.

Reduce.

Surpass.

Change your destiny
one trade at a time.

Follow

20

The Commandments


The Trading Twenty Commandments keep you focused on reducing the number of trades to your goal so you can change your destiny one trade at a time.

Reduce

0

Trades to Goal


Breakdown your Balance Goal into the number of trades to surpass your goal. How many trades are you from your balance goal?

Surpass

$1M+

Your Goal


Follow the Commandments and reduce the number of trades to your Balance Goal to 0 to surpass any trading goal you dare to set.

Looking for more?

Help is one-click away. 🔥

3 Views Apr 02, 2025 12:00 PM
Zacks - Article

All You Need to Know About Meta Platforms (META) Rating Upgrade to Buy

Zacks Equity Research

Meta Platforms (META) appears an attractive pick, as it has been recently upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). This rating change essentially reflects an upward trend in earnings estimates -- one of the most powerful forces impacting stock prices.

A company's changing earnings picture is at the core of the Zacks rating. The system tracks the Zacks Consensus Estimate -- the consensus measure of EPS estimates from the sell-side analysts covering the stock -- for the current and following years.

Since a changing earnings picture is a powerful factor influencing near-term stock price movements, the Zacks rating system is very useful for individual investors. They may find it difficult to make decisions based on rating upgrades by Wall Street analysts, as these are mostly driven by subjective factors that are hard to see and measure in real time.

Therefore, the Zacks rating upgrade for Meta Platforms basically reflects positivity about its earnings outlook that could translate into buying pressure and an increase in its stock price.

Most Powerful Force Impacting Stock Prices

The change in a company's future earnings potential, as reflected in earnings estimate revisions, and the near-term price movement of its stock are proven to be strongly correlated. That's partly because of the influence of institutional investors that use earnings and earnings estimates for calculating the fair value of a company's shares. An increase or decrease in earnings estimates in their valuation models simply results in higher or lower fair value for a stock, and institutional investors typically buy or sell it. Their bulk investment action then leads to price movement for the stock.

For Meta Platforms, rising earnings estimates and the consequent rating upgrade fundamentally mean an improvement in the company's underlying business. And investors' appreciation of this improving business trend should push the stock higher.

Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock movements, so it could be truly rewarding if such revisions are tracked for making an investment decision. Here is where the tried-and-tested Zacks Rank stock-rating system plays an important role, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions.

The Zacks Rank stock-rating system, which uses four factors related to earnings estimates to classify stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally-audited track record, with Zacks Rank #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>.

Earnings Estimate Revisions for Meta Platforms

For the fiscal year ending December 2025, this social media company is expected to earn $25.61 per share, which is a change of 7.3% from the year-ago reported number.

Analysts have been steadily raising their estimates for Meta Platforms. Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company has increased 1.7%.

Bottom Line

Unlike the overly optimistic Wall Street analysts whose rating systems tend to be weighted toward favorable recommendations, the Zacks rating system maintains an equal proportion of 'buy' and 'sell' ratings for its entire universe of more than 4000 stocks at any point in time. Irrespective of market conditions, only the top 5% of the Zacks-covered stocks get a 'Strong Buy' rating and the next 15% get a 'Buy' rating. So, the placement of a stock in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks indicates its superior earnings estimate revision feature, making it a solid candidate for producing market-beating returns in the near term.

You can learn more about the Zacks Rank here >>>

The upgrade of Meta Platforms to a Zacks Rank #2 positions it in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks in terms of estimate revisions, implying that the stock might move higher in the near term.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Looking for more?

Help is one-click away. 🔥

Trading Twenty uses cookies to enhance your experience.

By clicking “Accept” and continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies.