Laura Martin, Analyst at Needham & Company, LLC, recommends buying shares of Facebook Inc (FB). Her thesis is that Facebook’s valuation should be calculated as an option to generate revenue from 1.3 billion people, which was its total reach in 2014. Martin particularly likes Facebook’s strategy of making personalization and video acquisitions.
“Specifically, we think the WhatsApp acquisition was a good move, because it offers a different form of revenue and an option on 500 million people in largely non-overlapping countries to Facebook,” Martin says. “We also like that the revenue stream from WhatsApp, which is subscription, is different than advertising — Facebook’s only revenue stream today.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS INTERVIEW CLICK HERE.
Martin says that revenue diversification in the form of a second revenue stream, like the one Facebook acquired with WhatsApp, typically expand a company’s multiple by three points.
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) Diversifies Revenue Stream with Acquisitions
August 04, 2014
Celgene Corporation (CELG) Diversifies Revenue Stream, Sees $1.5 Billion Opportunity in Cancer Drug Abraxane
April 29, 2013
Facebook Inc (FB) Dominates Mobile Advertising Arena
September 18, 2014
Facebook Inc (FB) Likely to Flourish Despite Competition
November 24, 2015
Facebook (FB) Faces Increasingly Fragmented Audience
May 21, 2013