Who likes Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock in 2023? The answer is: practically everyone except the hapless short-sellers.
So, if you’d like to catch a ride as Meta Platforms gets ready to release its quarterly earnings data, I invite you to pick up a few shares before it’s too late.
The Meta Platforms stock bears and critics keep saying, “Enough is enough,” as the share price continues to march higher. They’ve been wrong since November of last year, and they’ll probably be wrong again in 2023’s second half.
So, don’t let valuation concerns and contrarian instincts keep you out of a perfectly viable stock trade with Meta Platforms.
META Stock Traders: Mark Your Calendar
Here’s the lowdown. Meta Platforms will announce its second-quarter 2023 financial results on July 25. Analysts expect the company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to have earned $2.89 per share during the quarter.
Let’s rewind to Jan. 31, when Meta Platforms released its fourth-quarter 2022 results. Wall Street expected Meta Platforms to have earned $2.26 per share, but the company delivered a big miss with $1.76 per share. This disappointing result should have prompted a share-price selloff, right?
There’s a lesson here: The old rules don’t apply in 2023. META stock has doubled since the end of January. Certainly, enthusiasm over artificial intelligence (AI) and Meta Platforms’ virtual reality (VR) headsets has been a contributing factor.
The market is in a bullish mood now, and financial traders are clearly looking for an excuse to invest in Meta Platforms. An earnings beat, or even in-line results, could easily send the Meta Platforms share price much higher.
Meta Platforms Makes a Splash With Threads
Veering away from earnings for a moment, we can’t ignore the elephant in the room: Meta Platforms’ early success with short-message posting platform Threads.
Twitter owner Elon Musk probably won’t admit this, but Threads is already posing a major threat to Twitter.
Threads quickly reached 100 million sign-ups, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported, “Third-party estimates suggest people have been switching to” Threads from Twitter.
Meta Platforms will leverage the popularity of Instagram to boost Threads’ revenue-generating possibilities.
According to Axios (via Reuters), Instagram plans to “bring its branded content tools to Threads.” These tools are intended to “help marketers collaborate with influencers on paid partnerships” on Threads “while advertising is unavailable.”
This is big news for Meta Platforms stock investors. All in all, Threads could prove to be a money-printing machine; Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney anticipates that the platform could provide roughly $8 billion in revenue per year during the next two years.
Meta Is a Pre-Earnings No-Brainer
Meta Platforms will, most likely, continue to punish the short-sellers and prove the skeptics wrong. At the very least, Meta Platforms should generate substantial revenue from the Threads app.
With the upcoming earnings release, Meta Platforms might give enthusiastic financial traders an excuse to push the share price up. You probably don’t want to miss out on the potential gains, so buy a few shares of META stock before July 25.
On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.