Facebook’s stock may possibly hit $160 in 2019 as the company’s income and user base have seen little effect from the reported data scandals and privacy issues this year, according to Short-seller Citron Research on Wednesday.
The company’s shares rose as much as 4.4 percent to $129.57 after Citron’s report. “We believe investors will be rewarded by the shift of user behaviour to Instagram shopping and the personalization of the commerce process,” Citron’s research note opined.
It further said Facebook has come a long way, turning the short-seller from a “one-time sceptic to a major bull”. “As investors have become overly concerned about the short-term noise of privacy and propaganda, they have forgotten to look at the earnings power and potential of the most advanced advertising tool with global reach in messaging, networking, and the future of shopping,” the short-seller said.
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Facebook has been in the data skirmishes with an apparently ever-growing list of user data controversies. Since news of the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in March, the company has been involved in at least, a data/privacy scandal at least once every month.
This fresh data controversy has affected the company as its shares fell on Wednesday, the 19th December over concerns about its ability to safeguard user data and this sparked a government lawsuit and criticism in the U.S. Congress.
Its stock fell to 7.25 percent, the biggest intraday drop since July, taking losses for the year to about 24 percent. The reason is that investors are worried about increasing legal issues over data use policies that have distressed many customers and could come with weighty penalties and costs.