Meta Platforms, Inc. (META)

(A Top Pick May 26/17 - Up 22%) One of his top holdings. Trading at 24 times forward earnings with a 20-25% growth rate. 2.2 billion active users. Ad revenue per active user is growing. Buyback program of $9 billion.

Short put. The stock has nearly fully recovered from its dip. He likes it. This will continue to be a player in online advertising. Write a September $185 put. He doubts it'll fall to $185, so you get about $10/share. If it doesn't get assigned, you keep that $10 taxed as a capital gain.

There is a fair bit of political hair on this at the moment. He struggles with the business model. Will it be around in 10 years? He has been wrong so far, but the political issues are going to be problematic. He would stay away.

The stock looks great. Weathered the storm. It is getting to 200 dollars quickly.

He's short FB even before the data scandal and he's worried about that short. He shorted, because he was worried about valuations. He thinks the Cambridge scandal will impact FB's growth, not so much by users opting out, but the cost of hiring more employees to police Facebook and privacy. He sees the bullish argument. They have a huge cash hoarde and 2 billion active users. Also, its valuation has sunk to 20x forward earnings. If you're a buyer, wait until the price drops a bit.

He sold in February but not over privacy issues, but because he got stopped at. He thought Zuckerberg did a great job at the Capitol Hill hearings. When they reported last week, they boasted an over 40% earnings growth rate, so the controversy hasn't hurt them. He'd like to get back into Facebook. It's too early to say if Facebook users will abandon the platform.

He just added to it. The problems they have gone through – there is light at the end of the tunnel. When you look at the math, it is so dominant and growing so powerfully, it has to keep going, at least over the short term.

It's definitely an opprtunity to buy. It boasts obscene margins and a long runway of opportunity. A great entry point now. Earnings growing at 30-40% a year.

Bought more shares in the last weeks. Attractive at this levels of 23 times earning with a 25% long term growth rate. He doesn’t see any major changes to the company’s model of monetizing user’s information for advertisers and ad targeting based on this week’s Congress testimonies. Long term there is a shift from print ads to digital ads and this company is going to benefit from that. (Analysts’ price target is $217.00)

In the crosshairs of UK/US regulators which will be a problem for FB for the near future. He doesn't use his Facebook account, because he simply talks to the people he wants to and doesn't want to share his personal details. It's a successful company, but there's too much risk for him. Wait and see what happens with the current problem.

There was support at $160. We tested that and bounced for a couple of days and then it broke. It is now showing resistance at $160. The next real support level is probably about the $135 area.

Trading at 19x forward earnings. Still growing at 40%, and around 23x future earnings. Great balance sheet. There will be regulation in the world, and he's shocked that people are upset about FB selling data to advertisers before 2014.
That was never a secret. Get over it. FB will continue to grow well. They can also monetize through Whatsapp and Instagram. He doesn't think users are all that upset over the controversy, but politicians are. (Analysts' price target $219.47)

There's hope for it. Trading at 22 forward earnings which is pretty good in this market. Sure, there are some risks, but they have 2 billion active users. There aren't many alternative apps to FB. They will lose some users on the margins and costs were rising, so he sold a bit recently. But this is not a disaster waiting to happen. Not at all. There is growth ahead. Nobody monetizes their app better than FB, turning viewers into ad dollars.

Sees a buying opportunity with this week's pressures on the stock. Still growing at 30% annually. His target price is $250. Will grow at 25% for at least the next five years. No debt. Great margins. Awash in cash. (Analysts' target of $222.86)

Despite the recent turmoil, it is still a very healthy chart. However, if your costs are low you may want to take some off the table. In the new economy you really don’t know what the next potential issue may be. Personal information may be misused. Be careful going forward.