Why Meta Platforms Stock Fell Sharply on Tuesday

What happened

Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB), the parent company of Facebook, tumbled on Tuesday, declining as much as 4.1%. As of 11:30 a.m. ET, the stock was down 3.9%.

The stock’s decline was likely primarily driven by a rough day in the overall market on Tuesday — especially for tech stocks like Meta Platforms. But an analyst’s move to slightly reduce his 12-month price target for the stock may also be weighing on shares.

So what

J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated an outperform rating for Meta Platforms stock on Tuesday. But he lowered his 12-month price target from $390 to $385, citing the tough year-ago revenue comparisons the company will face in 2022. The note to investors, however, was more focused on the positives; he views the shares as a top pick. Supporting his bull case, he thinks Meta Platforms is doing a good job managing recent ad-tracking changes from Apple‘s iOS and he believes that the new TikTok-like feature across the company’s social networks, called Reels, could be a major catalyst for it.

Capturing the bearish day in the overall market, the S&P 500 is down nearly 1.6% as of the same time frame. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has slumped 1.9%

Now what

Investors should note that Anmuth’s 12-month price target for Meta Platforms represents about 20% upside for the stock from here. While investors shouldn’t rely solely on analyst reports for investment decisions, it is true that its shares are starting to look extraordinarily cheap. Despite the company’s revenue growing 42% year over year over the trailing-12-month period and earnings per share demonstrating similarly strong momentum, shares are trading at just 23 times earnings.

Sure, the company’s top-line growth is likely to decelerate. But this sell-off may have gone too far.