Why This Analyst Likes Google And Amazon Over Facebook At Current Levels

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is trading lower Thursday after the company announced better-than-expected financial results, but warned of slowing growth in the second half of the year. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted that although the business is expected to moderate, it remains healthy, Neuberger Berman analyst Daniel Flax said Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Facebook reported second-quarter earnings of $3.61 per share, which beat the estimate of $3.02 per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $29.077 billion, which beat the estimate of $27.82 billion. 

"The results were strong," Flax told CNBC. 

The overall strength in tech speaks to the incredible innovation that is happening, he said. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) also reported very strong results, he added.

Alphabet reported quarterly earnings of $27.26 per share, which beat the estimate of $19.21 per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $61.88 billion, which beat the estimate of $56.02 billion. 

Related Link: If You Invested $1,000 In Alphabet Stock One Year Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

The YouTube platform has solid growth prospects over the next few years and the opportunity in the Google Cloud platform is underappreciated, Flax noted.

He told CNBC that his firm owns Facebook, but it prefers Alphabet and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) at current levels. 

Amazon's e-commerce business is "very healthy" and Amazon Web Services has "terrific growth prospects," Flax said. 

Amazon's advertising business is "an underappreciated part of the story," he added.

Amazon is set to report its second-quarter financial results after the close today (Thursday). 

Related Link: Why Credit Suisse Is Increasing Its Amazon Price Target Before Earnings

Price Actions: At last check Thursday, Facebook was down 3.33% at $360.90; Alphabet (GOOGL) was up 0.23% at $2,728.12 and (GOOG) up 0.29% at $2,728.57; and Amazon was down 0.31% at $3,618.31.

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.