These stocks dominate your internet time.
There’s no question that the global economy has been making the slow transition from offline to online for decades now. The companies with the largest online footprint are the ones in the best position to thrive in the 21st century economy. The performance of the FAANG stocks in the current bull market is evidence of just how much leverage the internet can provide. Bank of America recently released its monthly U.S. internet traffic report, which revealed that internet usage continues to rise with no end in sight. Here are seven stocks dominating internet traffic.
Alphabet (ticker: GOOG, GOOGL)
No company is dominating the internet like Alphabet subsidiary Google. U.S. Google users spent a total of 322.36 billion minutes on Google’s platforms in August, up 50 percent from a year ago. Total mobile time was up an incredible 54 percent year-over-year thanks to Google’s YouTube platform. Google also has the most total PC internet users of any company at 167 million, or about 75 percent of all U.S. PC internet users. Bank of America has a “buy” rating and $1,390 price target for GOOGL stock.
Facebook (FB)
In August, total Facebook mobile users on its Facebook.com platform were up 7 percent, but mobile time spent declined by 10 percent. Among all its platforms, Facebook’s total share of internet time spent declined slightly month-over-month to 14.1 percent. Total minutes were down 14 percent, including a 10 percent drop in mobile minutes and a 27 percent decline in PC minutes. Fortunately, Instagram’s mobile user count was up 24 percent and total time spent on Instagram was up 17 percent. Bank of America has a “buy” rating and $205 price target for FB stock.
Twitter (TWTR)
Twitter had about 7.88 billion total minutes spent on its platform in August, up 22 percent from a year ago. Twitter registered a 22 percent increase in total mobile minutes in August and a 1.1 million increase in total mobile users compared to July. Twitter now has 129.5 million U.S. mobile users. While Twitter is struggling with its overall user growth and the costs associated with cleaning up its platform, its U.S. traffic numbers show it is still an online force. Bank of America has an “underperform” rating and $27 price target for TWTR stock.
Snap (SNAP)
Snap had a 13 percent increase in total mobile minutes, but its user count declined from 132.6 million in July to 127.6 million in August. Like Twitter, Snap has been dealing with sluggish growth numbers, a lack of profitability and an unclear long-term strategy. However, with 188 million daily active users and the recent departure of chief strategy officer Imran Khan, Snap still has plenty of opportunity to dominate the internet in years ahead. Bank of America has a “buy” rating and $16 price target for SNAP stock.
Amazon.com (AMZN)
Across all device types, Amazon registered 20.11 billion total U.S. minutes in August, up 20 percent from a year ago. Mobile users were up 17 percent in August, and mobile minutes were up 24 percent. In addition to its e-commerce and cloud services businesses, eMarketer recently said Amazon is now the third-largest online advertiser in the world behind only Facebook and Google. Amazon is even revolutionizing the way people interact with the net via its Echo home smart speakers. Bank of America has a “buy” rating and $2,200 price target for AMZN stock.
Netflix (NFLX)
Excluding total minutes on TVs, Netflix generated 16.16 billion minutes of engagement time on PCs and mobile devices in August, up 23 percent from a year ago. Desktop minutes dropped 46 percent to 585 million, but mobile minutes were up 29 percent to 15.57 billion. NFLX stock tanked following its recent earnings report after subscriber growth failed to live up to expectations. However, analysts at Guggenheim and SunTrust both recently said Netflix is tracking for a subscriber beat in the third quarter. Bank of America has a “buy” rating and $410 price target for NFLX stock.
eBay (EBAY)
Online marketplace eBay drew 5.61 billion usage minutes across all devices in August, up 19 percent from last year. Desktop minutes dropped 2 percent to 2.3 billion, but mobile minutes were up an impressive 40 percent to 3.31 billion. Last quarter, eBay reported a 6 percent increase in organic revenue and a 5 percent increase in gross merchandise volume. The company is increasing its focus on advertising as well, and Bank of America estimates advertising revenue could eclipse $1 billion in 2019. The firm has a “buy” rating and $44 price target for EBAY stock.
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