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Meta Platforms: A Growth Stock with Promising Potential
Growth investors seek stocks that show strong financial growth, capturing market interest and delivering solid returns. However, pinpointing a growth stock that realizes its full potential can be challenging.
These stocks often come with heightened risk and volatility. If a company’s growth phase is declining or coming to an end, investing in it can result in substantial losses.
Fortunately, the Zacks Growth Style Score offers a practical way to discover innovative growth stocks. This tool evaluates companies on their actual growth potential beyond standard metrics.
Currently, Meta Platforms (META) stands out as a top recommendation from this proprietary system. It has an excellent Growth Score and a strong Zacks Rank.
Research indicates that stocks with superior growth characteristics tend to outperform the market. Those with a Growth Score of A or B combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) showcase even more improved returns.
Let’s explore three significant reasons why Meta Platforms is a great growth stock right now.
Strong Earnings Growth
Earnings growth is a critical factor for investors. Companies with robust profit increases attract more investor interest. A double-digit earnings growth rate is particularly appealing, indicating strong prospects for stock price appreciation.
Meta Platforms has a historical EPS growth rate of 18.2%. However, the focus should be on future projections. For this year, its EPS is expected to surge by 50.9%, significantly surpassing the industry average of 28.4%.
High Asset Utilization Ratio
Many growth investors overlook the asset utilization ratio, crucial for determining how effectively a company is using its assets to generate sales. Meta Platforms currently boasts a sales-to-total-assets (S/TA) ratio of 0.67, meaning it generates $0.67 in sales for every dollar of assets, outperforming the industry average of 0.58.
Sales growth is equally important. Meta Platforms is projected to achieve a 20.8% sales growth this year, compared to the industry average of 7.8%.
Positive Earnings Estimate Revisions
A positive trend in earnings estimate revisions can also signal a stock’s strong potential. Research shows a strong link between estimate revisions and short-term stock performance.
For Meta Platforms, analysts have recently raised their earnings estimates for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased by 5.1% over the last month.
Conclusion
With a Growth Score of A and a Zacks Rank #2, Meta Platforms demonstrates solid potential for growth investors, bolstered by the positive trends discussed above.
For those interested, a complete list of Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks is available.
Top Stock Pick: An Explosive Opportunity
Among thousands of stocks, five Zacks experts have each identified a favorite poised to grow by over 100% in the coming months. Director of Research Sheraz Mian has selected one company he believes has the most explosive growth potential.
This company focuses on the millennial and Gen Z demographics, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter. Following a recent dip in price, now could be the perfect time to invest. While not every elite pick transforms into a winner, this one could outperform recent Zacks picks like Nano-X Imaging, which climbed 129.6% in less than nine months.
Free: Access our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up.
Curious about the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Download our report on “5 Stocks Set to Double” for free.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Free Stock Analysis Report.
For further details, visit Zacks.com.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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