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While other markets have been volatile this year, tech has rallied — the Nasdaq is up 16% in the year to date. And top tech analyst Mark Mahaney of Evercore ISI is giving one tech stock further upside: Meta . “I still like Meta here and it’s still my number one, because the valuation here I think is still super attractive,” he told CNBC’s ” Street Signs Asia ” on Friday. “So it’s trading at a discount to the market for what I think is a company that can sustain 20% plus earnings growth,” Mahaney added. “You don’t see that too often.” He pointed to the monetization of Meta’s Reels product, via “better and better” campaign tracking and performance management. Mahaney highlighted an opportunity for Meta: “click to message” advertising. The strategy sends customers who click on ads directly into a message with the business via Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger. “I think this is a global opportunity for Meta but it’s particularly strong in markets where WhatsApp is particularly strong,” Mahaney said, adding that the strategy is under-monetized. “I think they’re finally starting to figure out how to monetize this effectively so anyway, I continue to like it and I think the stock can go to $350 … There’s a lot of upside still,” Mahaney said. The price target of $350 implies around 47% upside from the stock’s Thursday close. He added that Meta has been very aggressive about reducing costs — including job cuts — and investors are rewarding the company for it. On Wednesday, Meta reported revenue growth of 3% from a year earlier , which was better than analysts were expecting. After a 15% rally on Thursday to over $241, Meta’s shares are up 170% since bottoming at under $89 in November. No. 2 pick Mahaney said his second pick in large-cap tech would be ride-hailing app Uber . He expects Uber will have increasingly positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and free cash flow. Mahaney gave Uber a price target of $75, implying potential upside of 152%. He said in a March report that Uber has “substantial long-term profitability potential,” adding that its mobility unit achieved 30% EBITDA margins before the Covid-19 pandemic. Evercore expects those numbers to expand after the pandemic, citing scale and cost efficiencies. — CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.
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