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“Go Beyond Consensus: Deep dive into Facebook, Snap and Twitter” is a part of a webinar series hosted by Visible Alpha. This webinar takes a look at three social media companies with Visible Alpha Insights, an investment research technology platform that provides instant access to deep forecast data and unique analytics on thousands of companies. For each company, we present the story, the questions investors are asking and a summary of the insights our platform can provide.

In recent conversations with clients, there is a growing interest in real-time tracking of research delivered from the sell side, as monitoring inducement risk is prioritized under MiFID II. Clients have highlighted that the majority of research consumption occurs through the email inbox, an exceedingly difficult channel to monitor. How do you monitor your investment team’s inboxes? Are you able to answer basic questions, such as:

During this earnings season, we’ve experienced a reversal in investor sentiment around both Twitter and Snap, but where are near-term and longer-term expectations now?

Join us on Wednesday, April 4th at 11:00 AM ET for unprecedented access into the future of social networks.

In this 30 minute session, Visible Alpha’s Research Team will highlight specific investment controversies prevalent within Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR) and Snap (SNAP).

• Facebook: How have analyst expectations changed given the recent controversies around newsfeed tweaks, data security concerns, and other issues?
• Twitter: Do analysts expect recent improvements in ad revenue and margin performance to continue?
• Snap: With better-than-expected DAU performance in the most recent quarter, what growth rates are analysts forecasting now?

With the rise of passive investments and increasing regulatory and cost pressures, investment research analysts and portfolio managers are on an eager (and somewhat frantic) search for alpha-generating insights. However, when inundated with research at all hours of the day from all angles, it’s not easy. Buy-side analysts are constantly heads-down in their search for the most relevant and insightful research reports, models and corporate access events to create an edge.

How do investment teams manage the inordinate amount of research they receive, cut through the noise and discover new sources of alpha?

One answer comes in the form of a collaborative and modern research management system.

“Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that ‘Price is what you pay; value is what you get.’” -Warren Buffet

An analyst’s estimates are arguably the most important inputs when attempting to value a company. Investment managers rely heavily on estimates to evaluate company performance, and as informational needs and technology advances, estimates data has evolved to be more detailed and accessible.

We’ve noticed an interesting divergence between recent Facebook (FB) performance and consensus estimates. Over the last 3 months, Facebook has been flat vs. the S&P 500 gain of 7% and a NASDAQ gain of 8%. Facebook now sits at one of its lowest valuations in its trading history.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is being fairly lenient after the implementation of MiFID II, announcing that they won’t take immediate action against firms as long as they are moving toward full compliance. That being said, the FCA has also noted they will take action against any firm that is deliberately disregarding the rules of MiFID II.

New York, February 22, 2018—Visible Alpha today announced it was awarded “Best Research Management Solution” at the 2018 HFM US Hedge Fund Technology gala on February 13, 2018 in New York. The awards recognize technology providers that have demonstrated outstanding customer service and innovative product development over the past 12 months. Visible Alpha was singled out for providing the best solution for research valuation, monitoring and controlling research consumption, managing research budget allocation and extracting and processing information from research formats.

You are probably familiar with top line and bottom line consensus estimates from the sell side, but Visible Alpha takes a different approach.