Facebook Stock Price Dips Today, but Analysts Remain Bullish (Nasdaq: FB)

The Facebook stock price has been under pressure since reporting Q2 2015 earnings Wednesday after the close. However, analysts remain bullish.

Some concerns surfaced that Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), whose market value has surged $50 billion in the last two months, won't be able to continue to grow as such a rapid pace..

Here's a brief look at the recent earnings report...

Facebook Stock Price Falls After Earnings

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company earned $0.50 per share on revenue of $4.04 billion. That comfortably topped estimates of $0.47 per share on revenue of $3.99 billion. It was also handily better than EPS of $0.42 on revenue of $2.91 billion earned last year.

Monthly active users (MAUs), a key metric for the social networking leader, rose by 13% year over year (YOY) to 1.49 billion. To put that in perspective, that's more than the population of China, which is 1.39 billion.

FB also reported it had 1.31 billion mobile MAUs. That was up 23% YOY. Market researcher eMarketer says that together, Facebook and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) will capture more than half of the $69 billion global mobile-advertising market this year. While Google leads with 35%, Facebook is growing at a quicker clip.

Users now spend an average of more than 46 minutes a day on Facebook and its other properties, including Facebook Messenger and photo-sharing app Instagram. Facebook users now conduct some 1.5 billion searches a day, and FB has indexed more than 2 trillion posts.

That has Facebook looking more and more like Internet search behemoth Google.

FB officials also provided additional details regarding its mission of providing Internet access to the 10% of the Earth's population that live far from cell towers and land lines.

Facebook is working on drones the size of a Boeing 737 launched by helium balloons. Each 1,000-pound drone, powered by the sun, will fly in slow circles more than 11 miles above the Earth. They'll provide broadband-level Internet for individuals in a 50-mile radius below.

That kind of innovation, vision, and growth outlook are reasons why at least eight Wall Street firms hiked their Facebook stock price target Thursday following Q2 results.

Here's what many expect from the Facebook stock price now...

Facebook Stock Price Target Hikes

• Piper Jaffray lifted its Facebook stock price target by $26 to $146 from $120.
• Deutsche Bank upped its Facebook stock price target to $115 from $110, stating FB continues to execute near flawlessly. The investment bank said FB is performing at high levels despite a heavy push to monetize its family of apps, which Deutsche thinks will help to preserve the premium valuation.
• UBS raised its Facebook stock price target to $110 from $92, noting opportunities remain for FB to drive monetization against engagement.
• Rosenblatt Securities raised its target to $115 from $100. The NYC-based boutique firm believes FB has room to grow its revenue from video ads, a greater push from Instagram ads, and an early but growing social media ad market in earlier stage foreign countries.
• Canaccord Genuity boosted its Facebook stock price target to $115 from $90. The firm said it likes that FB management narrowed expense growth guidance for the third time. It continues to be impressed by FB's rounded growth outlook, user growth, improving monetization, and emerging growth from video and Instagram. With the valuation still reasonable, Cannacord believes the stock should continue to grind higher.
• Oppenheimer hiked its Facebook stock price target to $110 from $100 based on a higher 2016 earnings outlook, higher value for Instagram, and more favorable video terms.
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch lifted its Facebook stock price target to $115 from $105.
• FBR Capital upped its Facebook stock price target to $118 from $94. The firm noted FB's results support the firm's view that the company is uniquely positioned to grow its share of the high-growth mobile ad market thanks to its product format, data asset, and strong track record of innovation.

At $96.06, FB shares are up 23.16% year to date.

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Related Articles:

• The Wall Street Journal: Facebook and Google Tighten Grip on Mobile Ads
• Business Insider: Facebook Beats Earnings Expectations, but the Stock Sinks
• USA Today: Facebook Reveals Plans for Drone-Based Internet in the Sky