Jefferies raises Nvidia stock price target to $205 on strong demand
On Thursday, Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion revised the price target for Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:META) to $610, a decrease from the previous target of $775. Despite the reduction, the firm maintains an Overweight rating on the stock. According to InvestingPro data, Meta has shown impressive momentum with a 10.19% return over the past week, while maintaining strong fundamentals with an 81.68% gross profit margin.
Champion cited several key factors influencing the new price target, including performance checks with an Ad Buyer that were considered the best in the group. The focus remains on Meta's second-quarter revenue guidance, which is anticipated to be between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion, representing a year-over-year growth of 9-16.5% with minimal impact from foreign exchange rates. This follows Meta's strong performance, with revenue growing 21.94% over the last twelve months to $164.5 billion. Want deeper insights? InvestingPro offers 12 additional key tips about Meta's financial health and growth prospects.
The analyst also mentioned expectations for Meta's management to reiterate their operational expense forecast for fiscal year 2024 at $114-$119 billion, alongside capital expenditures projected at $60-$65 billion. An update on the company's advancements in artificial intelligence, specifically referring to Llama 4 and the agentic opportunity, is also sought after. Meta maintains a strong financial position with a current ratio of 2.98 and holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, according to InvestingPro analysis.
The revision of the price target reflects a cautious stance due to Meta's exposure to E-commerce and China. As a result, the revenue estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been lowered by 2% and 4%, respectively. Despite these concerns, Meta trades at an attractive PEG ratio of 0.39, suggesting potential value relative to its growth prospects.
In comparison, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s spending growth slowed down, showing only a 5.3% year-over-year increase in the first quarter of 2025, which was approximately 250 basis points below the fourth quarter of 2024 and slightly under the prior estimate. The anticipated acceleration in Google Search through the first half of 2025 did not materialize, which Champion suspects may be due to macroeconomic factors. While cost-per-click (CPC) metrics have increased by 3% year-over-year, click-through rates (CTRs) have decreased by roughly 4.5%. However, it was noted that YouTube's performance metrics were more positive, with CTRs rising by 10% year-over-year. Meta's next earnings report is scheduled for April 30, 2025, offering investors another opportunity to evaluate the company's performance against its tech peers.
In other recent news, Meta Platforms Inc. has seen several adjustments to its stock price targets by major financial firms. KeyBanc Capital Markets reduced Meta's price target to $645 from $710, maintaining an Overweight rating, citing potential short-term earnings pressure but optimism about long-term growth. Analyst Justin Patterson highlighted Meta's advancements in artificial intelligence and potential new revenue streams from its messaging platforms. Similarly, Baird cut its price target for Meta to $625 from $750, while maintaining an Outperform rating, reflecting a conservative outlook amid broader market challenges. Analyst Colin Sebastian noted the resilience of Meta's advertising platform but pointed out vulnerabilities in brand advertising and discretionary product categories.
Wolfe Research also adjusted Meta's price target to $640 from $730, maintaining an Outperform rating. The firm anticipates Meta's first-quarter revenue to align with expectations and foresees management setting conservative revenue guidance for the second quarter. Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) recently led premarket activity among the Magnificent Seven stocks. Tesla's stock experienced a 2.7% increase, and Nvidia saw a 3.1% rise, indicating a rebound for the group. In contrast, Meta's stock experienced a temporary downturn, along with other companies in the group, following a significant market rally.
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