This Week's Internet Highlights

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Mar 26, 2015
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Internet and social media stocks are ubiquitous in our lives, but which stocks are the best buy? Analysts have weighed in on four popular Internet stocks this week. Find out which ones are creating the most buzz:

Amazon (AMZN)

According to SmarterAnalyst, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray reiterated an Overweight rating on Amazon with a price target of $475 on March 24. Munster was bullish on the stock after the e-commerce giant announced plans to expand its PrimeNow service to Miami and Baltimore. The service is already running in New York City and promises same-hour delivery on daily essentials. The service is only available through the mobile app and subscribers can pay $7.99 for one-hour delivery or choose 2-hour delivery for no extra charge.

Munster commented that PrimeNow reflects Amazon’s commitment “to driving delivery times down and deepening engagement with consumers.” The analyst believes the service is both a defensive and offensive move, by preventing other retailers from “encroaching on Amazon’s territory with in store pick up” and by pioneering “a delivery time-frame previously untouched by eCommerce companies.” Munster notes that the margin profile of PrimeNow is “not dramatically different than two-day shipping.”

Gene Munster has rated Amazon 25 times since March 2009, earning an 80% success rate recommending the e-commerce site and a +20% average return per Amazon rating. Overall, Munster has a 69% success rate recommending stocks with a +27.7% average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus for Amazon on TipRanks is Moderate Buy.

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Google (GOOGL)

According to SmarterAnalyst, Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital reiterated an Outperform rating on Google with a $650 price target on March 25. Google’s CFO, Patrick Pichette, announced his retirement earlier this month. This week, Google announced that Ruth Porat, Morgan Stanley CFO, will be replacing him.

Mahaney views Porat as “one of the most capable hires” given her “impressive skill set and tech industry background.” She will be taking on a difficult job as Google has “the largest portfolio of Internet investments, which requires a CFO who can handle substantial complexity [and] who understands the investment needs and opportunities of a rapidly evolving technology sector leader.” Mahaney believes Porat is well suited for the position and that she will be an asset for returning “potential cash back to shareholders” and regulating “firmer opex management/discipline.”

Mark Mahaney has rated Google 33 times since June 2009, earning a 79% success rate recommending the tech giant with a +32.6% average return per Google recommendation. Overall, Mahaney has a 66% success rate recommending stocks with a +21.8% average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus for Google on TipRanks is Moderate Buy.

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Twitter (TWTR)

On March 25, Brian Wieserof Pivotal Research cut his rating on Twitter from Buy to Hold, though he maintained his $51 price target. Wieser has been skeptical “much of the time” on the social media site since its IPO, noting that the market “often ascribes to it despite its venture stage company-like characteristics” though he believes the product “has only niche market appeal at maturity.”

Wieser has been wary of Twitter since it has risen 47% in the past three months. He thinks “it is time to take money off the table as the market momentum that has driven the stock towards what we consider fair value could just as well reverse itself.” Wieser also notes that just because Twitter is a popular service does not make it a valuable company. He comments, “Just because something is impactful doesn’t mean it’s valuable. I separate what users are doing from what advertisers are doing.”

Brian Wieser has rated Twitter 14 times since October 2013, earning a 70% success rate recommending the social media site with an average return of +11.7% per TWTR recommendation. Overall, Wieser has an 86% success rate recommending stocks with a +21.1% average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus for Twitter on TipRanks is Moderate Buy.

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Facebook (FB)

On March 23, analyst Ronald Josey of JMP Securities reiterated an Outperform rating on Facebook and raised his price target from $94 to $97. Josey made the rating in preparation for Facebook’s F8 conference, a developer conference in San Francisco taking place on March 25 and 26. In the past, Facebook has used the conference as a platform to introduce new features and make major announcements.

Ronald Josey increased his price target after analyses showed that Facebook is taking more of the market share due to growing popularity of its mobile app and its mobile advertisements. Josey predicts that Facebook will discuss user trends and product updates at the F8 event, specifically on its autonomous brands such as Instagram and WhatsApp. Josey also anticipated hearing more on Facebook’s latest effort to host content within its own platform, as opposed to embedding links that go to an external website.

Ronald Josey has rated Facebook 12 times since March 2013, earning an 89% success rate recommending the social media site with a +28.4% average return per recommendation. Overall, Josey has a 70% success rate recommending stocks with a +9.8% average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus for Facebook on TipRanks is Strong Buy.

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