Oppenheimer Leaves Facebook's $100 Price Target Unchanged Following 'Solid Quarter'

Jason Helfstein of Oppenheimer on Wednesday stated in a note that his $100 price target on

are unchanged following a better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. “While 4Q margins were lower than expected on higher expenses, management narrowed the high end of its outsized '15 expense guidance,” Helfstein wrote. “However, we still believe expense guidance is overly conservative, given the magnitude of the margin beat in '14.” Helfstein notes that Facebook's fourth quarter ad revenue that rose 53 percent year-ove- year (58 percent excluding foreign exchange) was 4 percent better than expected and driven by mobile and better performing Newsfeed ads, which the company continues to slowly roll out. The analyst's $100 price target is derived from a 30x multiple on 2016E non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.90 plus a $24 billion valuation for Instagram and a $19 billion valuation for WhatsApp.