Facebook-parent Meta Platforms took a painful gut punch last year after Apple changed its privacy policies. But those troubles have eased for Meta stock, leading to an improved outlook for 2023, according to one analyst.
"We are looking at a scenario in which Meta will have more or less ramped ad products to replace the lost revenue following Apple's privacy moves, previously pegged at about $10 billion," Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju wrote in a note to clients.
Ju raised his price target on Meta stock to 180 from 145 and maintained a rating of outperform.
Meta lost roughly $10 billion in ad revenue last year after Apple changed privacy policies for the iPhone. That change made it more difficult to accurately target users with ads.
But with technology improvements made by the company with its advertising strategy approach, Ju expects to see "gradual improvements to Meta's revenue dollar growth."
Meta stock dropped 1.2% to close at 141.50 on the stock market today.
Meta Stock: A Less Optimistic View
Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White also issued a Meta report Wednesday, but was less optimistic.
"Meta faced a host of headwinds in 2022, including issues lingering from years past, and an onslaught of new challenges," White wrote in a note to clients.
"In the long run, we believe Meta will benefit from the secular digital ad trend and innovate in the metaverse," he wrote. "However, regulatory scrutiny persists, internal headwinds remain, and we believe the darkest days of this downturn are ahead of us."
White has a buy rating on Meta stock and a price target of 150.
Meta is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 1, after the market close.
Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.
