It was a pretty safe bet that President Biden could not stick around X, formerly Twitter, after decrying its current owner, Elon Musk, of “anti-semitic rhetoric.” As a result, Biden has moved his banner to his new social media of choice, Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:META) Threads. Investors, meanwhile, aren’t exactly impressed by the notion, and Meta slipped fractionally in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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Biden wasn’t the only one to bug out of X; several major advertisers, including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Disney (NYSE:DIS), pulled out as well. Musk, for his part, took on the allegations of his anti-semitic behavior, noting that “hundreds of bogus media stories” referred to him as “anti-semitic” despite nothing being “…further from the truth.” Interestingly, reports note that the move to Threads had been in the works for some time, though this latest kerfuffle likely sped up the process.
A Series of Strange and Oddly-Interconnected Events
Here, however, is where things get interesting. First, Biden’s move to Threads comes at a time when Biden himself is widely disapproved of. Just days ago, his approval rating managed to sink to 40%, his lowest approval rating yet, mainly over his handling of the Israel-Hamas War. Other reports suggest that the number in question is significantly lower, though these reports are disputed. Further, the move comes at the same time that Meta is disbanding its “Responsible AI” team. Musk has routinely come out against AI and its series of potential dangers, so it might be considered odd that Meta is taking the blinders off at right about the same time Biden made the jump to Threads.
Is Meta Platforms a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 36 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 204% rally in its share price over the past year, the average META price target of $384.62 per share implies 13.76% upside potential.
