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2 “Strong Buy” FAANG Stocks to Watch Heading Into Earnings

Big Tech has been in the news lately, and not necessarily for the right reasons. Accusations of corporate censorship have hit the headlines in recent weeks. While serious, this may have a salutary effect – the public discussion of Big Tech’s role in our digital lives is long overdue. And that discussion will get underway just as the Q4 and full-year 2020 financial numbers start coming in. Of the FAANG stocks, Netflix has already reported; the other four will release results in the next two weeks. So, the upcoming earnings will garner well-deserved attention, and Wall Street’s best analysts are already publishing their views on some of the market’s most important components. Using TipRanks’ database, we pulled up the details on two members of the FAANG club to find out how the Street thinks each will fare when they publish their fourth quarter numbers. According to the platform, both have received plenty of love from the analysts, earning a “Strong Buy” consensus rating. Facebook (FB) Let’s start with Facebook, the social media giant that has redefined our online interactions. Along with Google, Facebook has also brought us targeted digital marketing and advertising, and the mass monetization of the internet. It’s been a profitable strategy for the company. Facebook’s market cap is up to $786 billion, and in the third quarter of 2020, the company reported $21.5 billion at the top line. Looking ahead to the Q4 report, due out on January 27, analysts are forecasting revenues at or near $26.2 billion. This would be in-line with the company’s pattern, of rising quarterly performance from Q1 to Q4. At the predicted sum, revenues would rise 24% year-over-year, roughly congruent with the 22% yoy gain already seen in Q3. The key metric to watch out for will be the growth in daily active users; this metric slipped slightly from Q2 to Q3, and further decline will be taken as an ominous sign for the company’s future. As it stands now, Facebook’s daily average user number is 1.82 billion. Ahead of the print, Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein boosted his price target to $345 (from $300), while reiterating an Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating. Investors stand to pocket ~26% gain should the analyst’s thesis play out. (To watch Helfstein’s track record, click here) The 5-star analyst commented, “[We] anticipate 4Q advertising revenue will handily top Street estimates. We now forecast 4Q advertising revenue +30% y/y vs. Street’s +25% estimate based on a regression of US Standard Media Index Data (r-squared 0.95) and accelerating global CPM data from Gupta Media (4Q +35% y/y vs. 3Q’s -12%). Additionally, we are very bullish on FB’s eCommerce opportunity following conversations with our checks and our initial work conservatively estimating Shops is a $25–50B opportunity vs. current $85B revs. We believe shares currently trading at 7.1x EV/NTM sales offers the most favorable risk/ reward in internet large cap.” Overall, the social media empire remains a Wall Street darling, as TipRanks analytics showcasing FB as a Strong Buy. This is based on 34 recent reviews, which break down to 30 Buy ratings, 3 Holds, and 1 Sell. Shares are priced at $276.10 and the average price target of $327.42 suggests a one-year upside of ~19%. (See FB stock analysis on TipRanks) Amazon (AMZN) Turning to e-commerce, we can’t avoid Amazon. The retail giant has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, making it one of just four publicly traded companies valued over the trillion-dollar mark. The company’s famously price is famously high, and has grown 74% since this time last year, far outpacing the broader markets. Amazon’s growth has been supported by increased online sales activity during the ‘corona year.’ Globally, online retail has grew 27% in 2020, while total retail slipped 3%. Amazon, which dominates the online retail sector, is projected to end 2020 with $380 billion in total revenue, or 34% year-over-year growth, outpacing the global e-commerce gains. Cowen analyst John Blackledge, rating 5-stars by TipRanks, covers Amazon and is bullish on the company’s prospects ahead of the earnings release. Blackledge rates the stock Outperform (i.e. Buy), and his price target, at $4,350, indicates confidence in a 31% upside on the one-year time horizon. (To watch Blackledge’s track record, click here) “We forecast 4Q20 reported revenue of $120.8BN, +38.2% y/y vs. +37.4% y/y in 3Q20 led by AWS, advertising, subscription and 3P sales [..] We estimate US Prime sub growth accelerated in 4Q20 (reaching 76MM subs in Dec ’20 and ~74MM on avg in 4Q20), helped by pandemic demand, Prime Day in Oct, & elongated shopping period, as well as 1 Day delivery […] In ’21, we expect strong top-line growth to continue driven by eCommerce (helped by COVID pull forward in Grocery), adv., AWS & sub businesses,” Blackledge opined. That Wall Street generally is bullish on Amazon is no secret; the company has 33 reviews on record, and 32 of them are Buys, versus 1 Hold. Shares are priced at $3,301.26 and the average price target of $3,826 implies that it will grow another 16% this year. (See AMZN stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.