Welcome to "#SocialStocks," The Fly's weekly recap of Wall Street's reactions to social media stock news.
FACEBOOK F8: During Facebook's (FB) F8 Refresh virtual event for developers, Konstantinos Papmiltiadis, VP Platform Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed that Messenger API for Instagram is now available to all developers. "Today, we are excited to open up the Messenger API for Instagram to all developers, allowing brands to offer messaging experiences on Instagram," Papmiltiadis said. "With these new features, businesses can integrate Instagram messaging with their preferred applications and workflows." In addition, Facebook also announced Login Connect, which will allow customers to opt into messaging with businesses directly from the Facebook Login Flow. The company noted that it has so far seen over 70% of users in testing opt in to messaging through this feature. In addition, Facebook said it is launching Researcher API, a new API specifically for the "research community." The company said the new API provides real-time access to Pages, Groups, Events, and Post-level U.S. data in a secure manner to academic researchers.
ZUCKERBERG'S POWER: Last week, Bloomberg reported that Facebook's board of directors scuttled a proposal to limit the control of CEO Zuckerberg's control over the social media empire. The proposal put forth to Facebook's board was to remove Zuckerberg as chairman, which he has been since 2012, "with an independent representative," added the Bloomberg story. "During Facebook's annual meeting, the board also rejected a proposal to eliminate the special class of super-voting shares that gives Zuckerberg a controlling stake in the company," Bloomberg said at the time.
ZOOM: After the market close last night, Zoom Video (ZM) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter, with the company saying the video-conferencing platform had roughly 497,000 customers with more than 10 employees at the end of Q1, up about 87% from the same quarter last fiscal years. Zoom also reported that, in Q1, it had 1,999 customers contributing more than $100,000 in trailing 12 months revenue, up approximately 160% from the same quarter last fiscal year, and a trailing 12-month net dollar expansion rate in customers with more than 10 employees above 130% for the 12th consecutive quarter. Looking ahead, the company provided earnings and revenue guidance for Q2 and fiscal 2022 above current analysts' expectations, and said on its quarterly call that the net dollar expansion rate is expected to remain above 130% for a few quarters.
Analysts had mixed reactions to the quarterly report, as no fewer than three firms raised their price targets on Zoom shares while at least three firms cut their targets. Of note, Citi analyst Tyler Radke raised his price target on Zoom to $380 from $362 while maintaining a Neutral rating, saying that Q1 results featured normalizing demand trends with a smaller level of revenue upside seen since the pandemic. The analyst added that the company continues to execute well in the core business.
Meanwhile, BTIG's Matt VanVliet cut his price target on the stock to $495 from $550, saying that his reduced price target is driven by valuation. The analyst added, however, that he expects Zoom's growth levels to remain "extremely strong" as the company capitalizes on its evolving and expanding market opportunity.
TWITTER/INDIA: Last Thursday, Twitter (TWTR) said that it intended to push leaders in India to change regulations that have given authorities greater regulation over online media and internet platform, according to the New York Times. "Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve," the company said. Twitter has also received a notice of noncompliance with India's new information technology laws with a request to remove content related to India's protests and government handling of the coronavirus, the Times noted.
-0.64 (-1.11%)
Snap
-0.75 (-1.18%)
Ticker changed to META
-1.2 (-0.36%)
Zoom Video
-2.72 (-0.83%)