- Pivotal Research analyst Michael Levine downgrades Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) from Hold to Sell and cuts the target from $215 to $180, a 16% downside.
- Levine cites the potential headwinds from the recent Google Chrome changes, which will "restrict some of the capabilities of third party cookies, making it more challenging to utilize inputs from cross-site behavior."
- The analyst says the Chrome change combined with Apple's iOS 13 launch "has wide ramifications for the advertising ecosystem."
- While Facebook tends to be conservative with its forecasts, Levine thinks "the company might have meant it this time with respect to the data-related headwinds."
- Facebook guided a Q1 revenue growth deceleration in the low to mid-single digits compared to Q4, which the company partially attributed to "other ad-targeting related headwinds."
- Facebook shares are down 1.1% pre-market to $210.82.