Here are SunTrust's favorite new internet stock picks for the next year

Published Wed, Aug 16 20173:47 PM EDT

SunTrust shared with its clients the firm's best current internet stock picks over the next 12 to 18 months and initiated coverage on big names, including Facebook, Alphabet, and Expedia. "As we look out to the rest of 2017 and 2018, we believe that value will continue to accrue to larger, stronger player, and to differentiated, attractively priced SMID [small- and mid-cap equities]," wrote analyst Naved Khan. "As such, we favor high-quality names with identifiable catalysts at reasonable prices." Each pick and price target is based on a 12- to 18-month time horizon and represents a peek at the analysts' thinking. Here are four internet companies that made SunTrust's recommended list and their price targets. 1) Alphabet ( GOOGL ) SunTrust initiated coverage of Google parent Alphabet with a $1,100 price target, representing 17 percent upside from Tuesday's close. "We believe Alphabet is one of the best plays on several macro trends in the economy, including the shift to digital advertising, both for direct response and for brands; increased consumption of video; rise of cloud computing, in addition to several long-term initiatives including self-driving cars (Waymo) and smart homes (Nest)." 2) Facebook ( FB ) The analysts initiated coverage with a price target of $210 by the end of 2018, which would be 23 percent higher than Tuesday's close. "Facebook has become the foundation of the social web … Facebook is still in its early growth phase, in our view, and given its enormous reach and time spent statistics, coupled with relevance, targeting, and social context, we believe the company will capture a disproportionate high percentages of brand ad dollars over the next 2-3 years." 3) Expedia ( EXPE ) SunTrust research initiated coverage of Expedia with a $195 price target, representing 33 upside from Tuesday's close. "The company's global reach, scale of operations and a portfolio of established consumer brands position it well to grow at a healthy double-digit clip in the massive $1.3T market for leisure travel, almost half of which is still offline. Our constructive bias on the stock reflects the sizable near-and-long-term opportunity with HomeAway." 4) Shutterfly ( SFLY ) SunTrust initiated coverage of Shutterfly with a $56 price target for its 2018 fiscal year, which would be 21 percent higher than Tuesday's close. "We see management's focus on disciplined growth, higher quality of earnings and more efficient use of SBC as bullish signs for shareholder value creation over time. And while questions about the outlook for the other Shutterfly brands remain, we believe that improvements in core Shutterfly's results, meeting/exceeding Street expectations."

Visitors browse at the display of Expedia during the International Tourism Trade Fair in Berlin.

Fabrizio Bensch | Retuers

SunTrust shared with its clients the firm's best current internet stock picks over the next 12 to 18 months and initiated coverage on big names, including Facebook, Alphabet, and Expedia.

"As we look out to the rest of 2017 and 2018, we believe that value will continue to accrue to larger, stronger player, and to differentiated, attractively priced SMID [small- and mid-cap equities]," wrote analyst Naved Khan. "As such, we favor high-quality names with identifiable catalysts at reasonable prices."

Each pick and price target is based on a 12- to 18-month time horizon and represents a peek at the analysts' thinking.

Here are four internet companies that made SunTrust's recommended list and their price targets.