Cramer expects Facebook parent Meta shares to fall further, says don’t buy the dip just yet

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday reiterated his long-term confidence in Facebook parent Meta Platforms, but said investors who want to take advantage of the stock’s post-earnings plunge should be patient.

“I say Meta-Facebook will be a buy because eventually the sellers do get exhausted… and this will be no different from the last three times I said to buy and everyone laughed,” said the “Mad Money” host, whose charitable trust has long owned shares of the social media giant.

“We may not be there yet, but we’re awful close. Let them ruin the stock one more time. That will be your chance,” Cramer continued.

Shares of Meta fell 26.4% Thursday, causing the company to lose more than $237 billion in market value. Thursday’s steep decline came as Wall Street processed Meta’s weaker-than-expected revenue growth in the next quarter, and the tech firm’s warning about the sales impact of Apple’s recent privacy changes.

Cramer said Meta’s quarterly results and guidance were definitely disappointing.

“Put it all together and you can justify selling the stock, maybe down as much as 15%,” Cramer acknowledged. But a 26% decline is overdone, he argued, “because Facebook has actual earnings. Right now you’re paying just 18 times for those actual earnings, well below the average stock in the [S&P 500].”

Plus, Cramer said the Mark Zuckerberg-led company has faced plenty of challenges in the past and seen its stock fall as investors grew concerned about them. He noted he was buying the stock when it traded in the teens per share and low $20s, as people thought the company was behind the curve on mobile.

So far, though, Meta has been able to overcome those obstacles and see its stock move higher, Cramer said, and he’s expecting it to happen again.

“I’m not telling you to buy Meta-Facebook [on Friday]. Not yet,” Cramer said. “When you have an emotional market … the selling will not be like normal selling. It gets angry. It’s chaotic. It’s extra irrational. It won’t necessarily be over in a day,” he added.

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Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Meta.