Marketwatch.com:
The FAANG stocks haven’t really had much in common this year, with performance ranging from a 58% surge in Google parent Alphabet GOOG, +1.11%, to a 2% drop in online retailing giant Amazon AMZN, +0.38%.
Arete Research, an independent research service focusing on the tech sector, said it is time for a breather in the second-best performer of that group, Facebook FB, +1.20%, which has surged 32% this year. It downgraded Facebook to neutral from buy and left its price target at $381, or 6% above Friday’s closing price.
The issue is that, while Facebook saw a large 47% jump in impression pricing in the second quarter, the number of ad units grew just 6% — the slowest growth since the fourth quarter of 2017. Google hasn’t had this problem, since it could replace COVID-19 pandemic-related search queries with travel searches. Since revenue growth is driven off impression growth, the Arrete analysts expect Facebook shares to trend sideways the rest of the year.
That problem of impressions won’t last forever, the analysts added. They cited Facebook’s growing presence on e-commerce, which should help boost time spent in 2022. Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, explained the company’s desire to create more native commerce experiences across its apps.
“What we found is that when these ads link off site, you often land on a webpage that’s not personalized or not optimized or where you have to re-enter your payment information, and that’s not a good experience for people, and it doesn’t lead to the best results for businesses either,” said Zuckerberg.
The Arrete analysts said, on an enterprise value-to-Ebitda basis, Facebook is attractively valued, at just 12 times 2022 earnings, versus 26 times 2022 earnings for Twitter TWTR, +0.76% and 16 times for Alphabet.
The Kansas City Fed announced the Jackson Hole event will be online only, rather than in person, a sign of the growing difficulties the U.S. is encountering from the delta strain of coronavirus. According to a Bloomberg News article, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s reappointment is supported by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and President Joe Biden will make his decision around Labor Day.
The economics docket includes flash purchasing managers indexes and existing home sales data. In the eurozone, the composite PMI edged slightly down to 59.5 in August from 60.2 in July, in what still was a strong reading.
Uber Technologies UBER, +0.23% and Lyft LYFT, -1.92% both slumped in premarket trade, after a judge ruled a California proposition that classified drivers as contractors instead of employees was unconstitutional.
Pfizer PFE, -0.16% reached a $2.3 billion deal for Trillium Therapeutics TRIL, +3.92%, with the $18.50-per share offer a more than 200% premium to Friday’s close.
Virgin Orbit will go public via an acquisition by special-purpose acquisition vehicle NextGen Acquisition Corp. II NGCA, +0.41%, in a deal valuing the satellite launcher at $3.2 billion.
Battery supplier LG Chem 051910, -11.14% slumped in Seoul trade, after General Motors GM, -0.57% announced an expanded recall of its Bolt electric vehicles, and said it would seek reimbursement from LG for the $1 billion in costs.
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has launched a merger inquiry into S&P Global’s SPGI, +0.82% plan to buy IHS Markit INFO, +0.78% for $44 billion.
The markets
U.S. stock futures ES00, 0.36% NQ00, 0.30% rose to kick off the week. Oil CL.1, 3.20% futures surged, and bitcoin BTCUSD, 3.99% climbed over $50,000.
The Nikkei 225 NIK, +1.78% rose nearly 2% to lead gains across Asia, while European stocks enjoyed a smaller advance.
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