BofA On Facebook's Facelift To Meta, Analyst Maintains $400 Price Target

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) Thursday launched a series of new products in the augmented and virtual reality category during its Facebook Connect Conference.

The rebranding of Facebook to Meta highlights the growing importance of non-Facebook apps like Instagram and WhatsApp, and could make a difference in the company's negative brand perception, according to BofA Securities.

The Facebook Analyst: Justin Post maintained a Buy rating on Facebook with a $400 price target. 

The Facebook Takeaways: While Facebook will control the hardware specifications and operating system, it expects the metaverse to reach 1 billion people and generate hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, Post said in a note. 

“If Street was questioning Facebook’s commitment to the Metaverse, there are no questions now with $10bn annual investment and new name,” the analyst wrote.

“Bold announcements at Connect suggest FB is trying to accelerate AR/VR development,” Post said. “Horizon platform name change could potentially be a step toward opening the metaverse to non-FB devices,” he added.

“While VR gaming is already somewhat established, we see interesting use cases in several areas with multi-billion revenue opportunities,” the analyst further mentioned.

FB Price Action: Facebook shares were up 2.33% at $324.32 Friday afternoon.

Related Link: Why The Facebook Name Change Is A Big Deal, According To Gene Munster

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Courtesy photo.