Barclays continues to view FAANG names as a safe investment
Tech stocks have been hot, illustrated by yesterday's all-time high from the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC). It's been a number of the usual suspects helping drive the index's price action, including Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), which just this morning touched a record high of $208.43, and was last seen up 0.1% at $207.21, thanks in part to a round of bullish analyst attention.
Specifically, at least three brokerage firms boosted their price targets on FB stock this morning, and the highest of the bunch was Jefferies. The analyst in coverage lifted their price target to $240 from $215, while giving a nod to continued strength out of Instagram's advertising business, and Cowen was close behind with its price-target hike to $235 from $210. Barclays, meanwhile, lifted its target to $226 from $190.
This all follows an intriguing note out of Nomura on Wednesday, which suggested regulations could actually help the social media company. For what it's worth, the average analyst price target is $229.30 on Facebook stock, which was up 17.3% year-to-date coming into today.
Other FAANG stocks got in on the analyst action, too. In fact, Barclays labeled the group a "safe haven" from broad-market headwinds such as a U.S.-China trade war. The brokerage firm went ahead and lifted its price target on Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to $1,350 from $1,250, and its Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) price target to $1,850 from $1,700.
Cowen weighed in on both GOOGL and AMZN, as well, setting the bar at $1,350 for the former and $2,100 for the latter. Alphabet shares tapped a record high of $1,202.99 out of the gate, but were last seen fractionally lower at $1,200.86. Amazon stock also hit an all-time peak already, rallying to $1,810 early on.