1 Stock to Buy, 1 Stock to Sell This Week: Meta Platforms, Snap

PCE inflation information, Powell speech, and mega-cap tech earnings in focus this week.
Meta Platforms inventory is a purchase with earnings due on Wednesday.
Snap shares set to underperform amid bleak profitability outlook.
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U.S. shares tumbled on Friday to cap a shedding week as traders apprehensive about extra rate of interest hikes and the Israel-Hamas battle spreading.

For the week, the blue-chip declined 1.6%, whereas the benchmark fell 2.4%. The technology-heavy sank 3.2% to notch its second straight week of losses.

S&P 500 vs. Nasdaq vs. Dow

The blockbuster week forward is anticipated to be an eventful one full of a number of market-moving occasions, together with key financial information in addition to a flurry of heavyweight earnings stories.

On the financial calendar, most vital will likely be Friday’s core private consumption expenditures (PCE) value index, which is the Federal Reserve’s most popular inflation measure. As per Investing.com, analysts count on each the month-over-month (+0.3%) and year-over-year charges (+3.7%) to stay at elevated ranges.

Feedback from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell are additionally on the agenda as traders search for extra clues on the central financial institution’s coverage outlook.

In the meantime, the Q3 earnings season hits full swing, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:), Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:), Amazon (NASDAQ:), and Meta Platforms on account of report.

These mega-caps will likely be joined by large names like Intel (NASDAQ:), IBM (NYSE:), Boeing (NYSE:), Coca-Cola (NYSE:), Ford (NYSE:), Common Motors (NYSE:), Visa (NYSE:), Mastercard (NYSE:), ExxonMobil (NYSE:), Chevron (NYSE:), United Parcel Service (NYSE:), Common Electrical (NYSE:), 3M Firm (NYSE:), Verizon (NYSE:), and Southwest Airways (NYSE:).

No matter which course the market goes subsequent week, beneath I spotlight one inventory more likely to be in demand and one other which might see recent draw back.

Keep in mind although, my timeframe is only for the week forward, Monday, October 23 – Friday, October 27.

Inventory To Purchase: Meta Platforms

I consider shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) will outperform this week, with a possible breakout to a brand new 52-week excessive on the horizon, because the social media big’s newest monetary outcomes will simply prime estimates for my part due to its regular consumer progress and indicators of enhancing circumstances within the digital promoting market.

Meta is scheduled to ship its third quarter replace after the U.S. market shut on Wednesday, October 25 at 4:05PM ET. A name with CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CFO Susan Li is ready for five:00PM ET.

Market members count on a large swing in META inventory following the print, as per the choices market, with a doable implied transfer of about 9% in both course. Shares rallied virtually 6% after its final earnings report in mid-July.

Unsurprisingly, an InvestingPro survey of analyst earnings revisions factors to rising optimism forward of Meta’s report, with analysts growing their EPS estimates 22 instances within the final 90 days, in comparison with only one downward revision.

Wall Avenue sees the father or mother firm of social media networks Fb, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, incomes $3.61 per share, surging 120% from EPS of $1.64 within the year-ago interval.

If that’s actually actuality, it might mark Meta’s most worthwhile quarter in two years, courting again to This fall 2021, because the Menlo Park, California-based tech firm continues to give attention to enhancing working effectivity.

In the meantime, income is forecast to rise 20.6% from the year-ago interval to $33.4 billion, which if confirmed would mark the second highest quarterly gross sales complete within the firm’s historical past.

As such, I consider Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will present strong steering for the months forward regardless of the difficult working setting, because the social media firm reaps the advantages of its increasing consumer base, recent AI initiatives, and rising adoption of reels.

META inventory – which rallied to a 2023 peak of $330.54 on October 12 – ended at $308.65 on Friday. At present ranges, Meta has a market cap of roughly $795 billion, making it the sixth largest firm buying and selling on the U.S. inventory alternate.

Shares have soared 156.5% year-to-date, rising alongside a lot of the tech sector. It ought to be famous that even after the inventory greater than doubled for the reason that begin of the 12 months, META shares stay undervalued in the meanwhile in response to InvestingPro, and will see a rise of 17.1% from the present market worth.

Inventory To Promote: Snap

I consider shares of Snap (NYSE:) will endure a difficult week forward, because the struggling social media firm’s newest earnings report will reveal one other worrying decline in each revenue and income progress because of the difficult financial setting.

Choices buying and selling implies a roughly 20% swing for SNAP shares after the replace drops.

Underscoring a number of headwinds Snap faces amid the present backdrop, an InvestingPro survey of analyst earnings revisions factors to mounting pessimism forward of the report, with all 17 analysts surveyed slashing their EPS estimates within the final three months.

Wall Avenue sees the father or mother firm of social media messaging app Snapchat shedding $0.05 per share, worsening from a lack of $0.02 per share within the previous quarter and in comparison with a lack of $0.22 per share within the year-ago interval.

Income is anticipated to say no 2.6% yearly to $1.1 billion, on account of a weak efficiency in its core advertisements enterprise, ensuing from privateness modifications in Apple’s iOS and rising competitors from Chinese language video-sharing app TikTok.

That doesn’t bode properly for Snap’s monetization efforts, which can doubtless lengthen its path to profitability and heighten its execution danger.

The ad-reliant social media firm badly missed revenue and gross sales progress expectations when it launched Q2 ends in late July, sending shares down by greater than 15%, as firms and small companies reduce on digital promoting spending amid the present working setting.

SNAP inventory ended Friday’s session at $9.44, incomes the Santa Monica, California-based social media agency a valuation of $15.3 billion.

Shares have underperformed the broader market this 12 months, rising 5.5% in 2023, in comparison with the Nasdaq 100’s 33% achieve.

It’s price mentioning that Snap at present has a beneath common InvestingPro ‘Monetary Well being’ rating of two.27/5.00 on account of issues on profitability, progress, and free money movement.

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Disclosure: On the time of writing, I’m brief on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and through the ProShares Brief S&P 500 ETF (SH), ProShares Brief QQQ ETF (PSQ), and ProShares Brief Russell 2000 ETF (RWM). Moreover, I’ve a protracted place on the Vitality Choose Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:) and the Well being Care Choose Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:). I recurrently rebalance my portfolio of particular person shares and ETFs based mostly on ongoing danger evaluation of each the macroeconomic setting and firms’ financials. The views mentioned on this article are solely the opinion of the creator and shouldn’t be taken as funding recommendation.