Previewing Facebook's Q2 Results: What If Ad Price Growth Were To Accelerate Once Again

Analysts at Credit Suisse turned incrementally bullish on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) ahead of the company's earnings report on July 26.

Credit Suisse's Stephen Ju maintains an Outperform rating on Facebook's stock with a price target raised from $175 to $180 based on expectations for a positive earnings report. In fact, the analyst raised his earnings per share estimate for the whole year from $4.98 to $5.08.

What Happened?

Facebook reported in its first quarter a slowdown in ad impressions along with an acceleration in ad price growth rates, the analyst explained. This was a strong-enough signal for investors to now expect upside to advertising revenue in the back half of 2017.

Ju's proprietary checks and conversations with advertisers point to incremental ad price acceleration in the second quarter due to a combination of dynamic ads for travel and in other categories such as auto and real estate, Ju continued. Also, Facebook continues to perform well the ongoing adoption of procession targeting options.

Overall, the analyst's view of Facebook remains unchanged. Specifically, the company is expected to continue driving long-term revenue growth and boasts other near-term drivers such as Instagram and Premium Video.

Bottom line, Ju is recommending investors buy Facebook's stock "ahead of the potential higher reset to back-half of 2017 estimates."

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