Meta Platforms price target raised to $188 from $165 at Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst Rob Sanderson raised the firm’s price target on Meta Platforms to $188 from $165 but keeps a Hold rating on the shares. The company’s focus on both profits and growth is assuring, as is the guidance that Reels will be revenue neutral in the next year as well as Meta’s commitment to further share buybacks, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm notes however that metaverse spending will increase to $20B this year from $15B, and the core ad business is now a high-single-digit/low-double-digit grower with unit growth of only 3%-4%, adding that most of the growth is also coming from lower ARPU territories.