Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: FB), aka the company formerly known as Facebook, changed its name at the end of October. It wasn't entirely a surprise given that the metaverse was increasingly becoming a focus of the company's efforts and during public remarks by CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. It's also the culmination of what began with Facebook's purchase of VR company, Oculus, in 2014.
It's still worth noting that despite this shift. Social media and advertising continue to make up the vast bulk of Facebook's revenues and will continue to do so for much of the next decade. A cynic could argue that Facebook is attempting to pivot as it finds itself mired in controversy over the negative externalities that have been created by its platform in terms of misinformation, political polarization, and negative effects on the mental health of young people, girls in particular.
There are also signs of slippage in the ad business especially as it loses market share to other platforms like ByteDance's TikTok. Recently, Meta's shares have dropped 22% from their all-time highs in September to last week's low of $300. From these lows, share prices have increased by about 10%.
Despite the stock's recent underperformance and numerous headwinds like its decelerating growth, regulatory pressure, and potential loss of market share, it's still worth looking at the bullish case as drops of 20% of more in the stock have been good entry points in the past.
Further, the stock's valuation has certainly improved, and it has a forward P/E of 23 which is slightly above the S&P 500's (NYSE: SPY) average P/E of 21. The stock's earnings growth will be in the single digits compared to 35% this year as it will have higher costs due to increased hirings and investments in platforms and content for the metaverse.
Additionally, if we look at Facebook's trading history, we see that pullbacks of 20% have marked good entry points during bull markets, while it can have pullbacks closer to 40% during more bearish market conditions.