One Reason Why Facebook (FB) Stock Is Up Today
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Facebook (FB) - Get Report are climbing 0.45% to $117.30 in early-afternoon trading on Thursday after Cowen & Co. said data show the company's Instagram platform is growing at a rate of 366,000 users per day.
Instagram previously grew at a pace of 350,000 users per day when the photo-sharing app had between 300 million and 400 million users, the firm said in a note cited by Barron's.
The social media platform reached 500 million monthly active users on June 21.
Cowen & Co. now expects Instagram to have 557 million monthly active users by the end of this year, up from its past forecast of 545 million. The figure will grow to 986 million monthly active users in five years vs. the firm's past estimates for 839 million by then, according to Barron's.
Cowen & Co. consequently hiked its 2021 revenues forecast for Facebook by 1.4% to $83.9 billion from $82.6 billion.
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Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of B+.
Facebook's strengths such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and expanding profit margins outweigh the fact that the company is trading at a premium valuation based on our review of its current price compared to such things as earnings and book value.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: FB
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articls's author.