Facebook shares rose this morning after the firm reported better than expected first-quarter results, while posting growth in daily and monthly active users, which we think is indicative that the firm's all-important network effect, a key source of its wide economic moat, is intact.
The results also provide some support for our view that the firm can regain user trust and weather the Cambridge Analytica and overall data privacy issues it is currently facing. We don't expect a significant long-term headwind to Facebook's platform, operations, or wide-moat rating.
Based on Facebook's first-quarter results and management guidance, we slightly adjusted our revenue growth assumption upward, but this did not move the needle on our $198 per share fair value estimate for the firm.
Despite the rise in shares today, we still see the firm as undervalued and believe investors have been presented with an attractive margin of safety.