Brad Gerstner says Meta is better positioned than the rest of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ this earnings season
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Altimeter Capital Chair and CEO Brad Gerstner said on Monday that Meta Platforms , one of his top holdings, is poised to outshine other so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks during this busy earnings reporting week. “If there was one name that I think is better positioned this week, it’s Meta,” Gerstner said on CNBC’s “Fast Money .” “I think people still underappreciate the commitment to efficiency at Meta.” Meta, along with Apple and Amazon , will post quarterly results after the bell Thursday. Microsoft and Alphabet report Tuesday. Meta has climbed 13% this year already. Gerstner, who has been an investor — on and off — in Meta since the early 2010s, said he’s particularly bullish on the firm’s artificial intelligence tools to increase monetization, as well as its AI wearable glasses. “Meta is actually deploying those AI tools to increase monetization to increase engagement for the benefit of the consumer,” he said. Gerstner wrote a critical open letter to the Facebook parent in October 2022, saying the company needed to slash headcount and stop spending so much money on the metaverse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg later declared that 2023 would be the company’s ” year of efficiency ” with hefty cost cuts at the top of his agenda. The stock soared 194% in 2023, marking its best year ever. For Big Tech earnings this week, Gerstner thinks the bar is high given how much the stocks have rallied this year. He added that if a company misses expectations, it could have a “Tesla-like” reaction in stock prices. Shares of Tesla dropped 12% last Thursday. The action came a day after the electric vehicle maker reported revenue and profit for the fourth quarter that missed analysts’ estimates as automotive revenue increased just 1% from a year earlier.
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