- FBN Securities has reiterated an Outperform on Facebook (FB +1.4%), saying regulatory fears are "overblown" and declines have given investors a buying opportunity.
- Regulatory risk is up given the U.S. government's harder look into Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election, and (separately) Russian moves to clamp down on Facebook and WhatsApp (as well as in China).
- But those are surmountable, says analyst Shebly Seyrafi: China's restrictions aren't unexpected "nor do we expect it to be material near-term since WhatsApp monetization has barely started anyway."
- "A new development is that Russia is threatening to shut down FB next year if it fails to comply with requirements to store data locally," the note reads. "According to Statista, Russia has about 96M Internet users or so. We believe that FB can resolve this matter by storing the data locally or by negotiating a solution with the Russian government, but we do not see this development as terribly material either."
- FBN has a price target of $210, implying 27.2% upside from current pricing.
- Previously: Facebook in deal to run NFL highlights, recaps (Sep. 26 2017)
- Previously: WhatsApp blocked in China (Sep. 26 2017)
- Previously: Facebook to release Russian-bought ads to investigators (Sep. 21 2017)