Meta Platforms, MercadoLibre, and DoorDash are top Internet picks at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of 22 stocks in its global internet sector, pulling out several names as a Top Pick as the firm weights the brewing risks at the macro/micro level against accelerating AI deployments that will benefit fundamentals.

“Despite strong performance over the last 18 months, valuations in internet names are fairly reasonable and should benefit from the expectation for upcoming rate cuts, tempered by decelerating top-line growth and as benefits from widespread cost-cutting fade,” Cantor said in Thursday’s research report.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is initiated with an Overweight rating and added to Cantor’s Top Pick list as the company has “plenty of levers to capture share gains” as AI deployment can deliver incremental engagement, monetization, and revenue growth over the next 2–3 years.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) is also assigned an Overweight rating and is one of Cantor’s Top Picks, predicated on the company’s solid fundamental outlook in both fintech and e-commerce and ability to expand margins from current levels from offerings in advertising, credit, and financing. And despite recent growth, Cantor estimates that MercadoLibre only accounts for mid-single-digit percentage of total retail sales in Brazil compared to ~10% for Amazon (AMZN) in the U.S.

Another Top Pick, Overweight-rated DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH), continues to deliver strong gross order value growth even as the company’s scale reached ~5% of consumer spending on restaurants. This was achieved through new categories, frequency of deployment, and strong habituation from existing customers. Cantor expects to see a “decent possibility” of positive GOV/EBITDA revisions over the next few quarters, which should continue to provide support to the stock.

Cantor also initiated Amazon (AMZN), Uber Technologies (UBER), Pinterest (PINS), Wix.com (WIX), and Maplebear (CART) with an Overweight rating.

Alphabet (GOOG), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Shopify (SHOP), Spotify Technology (SPOT), The Trade Desk (TTD), eBay (EBAY), GoDaddy (GDDY), Expedia Group (EXPE), Snap (SNAP), Zillow Group (ZG), Etsy (ETSY), and Lyft (LYFT) were initiated with a Neutral rating.

Airbnb (ABNB) and Thomson Reuters Corporation (TRI) were started at Underweight.