Meta Platforms (META) ended the recent trading session at $521.52, demonstrating a -1.87% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.17% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.39%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.05%.

The social media company's shares have seen a decrease of 12.14% over the last month, not keeping up with the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 6.26% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.94%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Meta Platforms in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on April 30, 2025. In that report, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post earnings of $5.22 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 10.83%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $41.27 billion, up 13.2% from the year-ago period.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $24.85 per share and revenue of $186.33 billion, indicating changes of +4.15% and +13.27%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Meta Platforms. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.96% lower. Meta Platforms is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Meta Platforms has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.39 right now. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 25.15 of its industry.

One should further note that META currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.19. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Internet - Software industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.91.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, placing it within the top 28% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research