Should I Buy Facebook Stock in 2019?

With a 21.68% drop so far in 2018, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) stock is no longer the darling of Wall Street.

Mishandling user data, being accused of helping spread violence in Myanmar, and the social media site's role in 2016 election meddling have all weighed down the FB stock price.

facebook stock

Those are all part of the reasons why nearly one in 10 Americans have deleted their Facebook accounts as of April 2018, according to TechRadar.com.

And right now, things aren't looking good for Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg...

Shareholders Call for Mark Zuckerberg to Step Down as Chair

Facebook shareholders have been in open revolt.

In October, a proposal by Trillium Asset Management called on the company to split the CEO and chair roles, both currently held by Zuckerberg.

Investors will vote on the proposal at the company's 2019 shareholder meeting.

Splitting the chair and CEO spots has been the subject of academic studies for years. The consensus is that dividing these roles between two people can help stabilize the focus of the CEO and ensure that the company can focus on growth and innovation.

Solid examples of these splits include Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

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However, given that Zuckerberg controls roughly 60% of the voting rights, he's likely not going anywhere.

No matter what happens at the shareholder meeting, Zuckerberg and his executives have a long journey ahead to regain not only the trust of shareholders, but also the trust of the general public.

That's why we are looking ahead at what's to come...

In order to make the most money in the stock market, Money Morning readers need to be looking forward.

Today, we're reviewing what's ahead for the company, what can send the stock price higher or lower, and whether Facebook stock deserves to be in your portfolio in 2019.

Is Now the Time to Buy Facebook Stock?

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Facebook is being oversold right now, allowing investors to own it at a potentially huge discount to where it may trade in the next year.

Zuckerberg's dorm-room creation isn't going anywhere.

It is more than a social media giant with 1.49 billion daily active users (DAUs). Like it or not, Facebook is slowly becoming an all-in-one service for everything you need in your life.

Have a question about a jacket sold by Tommy Hilfiger?

You can talk to a Tommy Hilfiger bot on Facebook Messenger.

Want to order food?

You can do that on Facebook.

Need a job?

Facebook lets companies post job openings in the United States and Canada.

This means people are going to keep using the service, which means advertisers will still be willing to shell out tons of advertising dollars to try and reach potential customers.

And because of all the calls for accountability, Facebook has stepped up its efforts to improve user security.

The firm doubled its cybersecurity and data safety workforce from 10,000 to 20,000 in 2018.

That investment should reduce concerns among the user base while signaling to the market that the Zuckerberg has learned a lesson.

Facebook is even planning on buying a cybersecurity firm.

The company is expected to realize revenue growth outside of its primary adverting efforts. The company hasn't fully monetized its WhatsApp, Instagram, and VR properties. Next year, expect Facebook to expand its revenue generation in these areas.

In 2016, Facebook generated between $650 and $750 million in revenue from Instagram. In 2021, research site Statista projects Instagram will generate $9.5 billion in revenue.

That's potentially more than 1,000% growth in revenue.

Zuckerberg paid $2 billion for Oculus VR in 2014, but it will soon pay for itself. By 2020, research company Tractica believes $21.8 billion will be generated from sales of VR head-mounted displays, VR content, and VR accessories.

Finally, Facebook stock is sitting in our "Buy Zone."

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We wouldn't recommend Facebook stock without utilizing the Money Morning Stock VQScore™.
We track the 1,500 most profitable companies on the market and assign each one a VQScore.

To get the score, we use only the key factors that find stocks ready to far outperform "average" returns.

A VQScore of 4.00 or higher puts a stock in the "Buy Zone."

And FB stock price is sitting right there.

In the next 12 months, BTIG projects the FB stock price will trade for $275 per share. From today's (Dec. 12, 2018) price of $143.08, that's a potential profit of 92.20%.

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