WhatsApp Channels are not the same as chats, or so Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) would like to make clear. It’s also bringing out WhatsApp Channels to a host of new countries who didn’t have access to the Channels service previously. That was enough for investors to put a little extra life behind Meta, and send it up slightly in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
With WhatsApp Channels, thousands of different users—from organizations to artists and even “thought leaders”—now have access to spread information across a substantial number of individual users. Previously, WhatsApp Channels was only available to users in 10 different countries. Now, however, that number goes up substantially. Several updates will also come along with the new service, including Channel search results that are sorted based on country as well as by time of addition, most used overall, and by most followed.
This comes hot on the heels of recent word out of Meta Platforms that it’s working a new artificial intelligence system that should be a match—or potentially more than a match—for GPT-4 itself. The latest model from Meta will swamp Llama 2, which was itself only released earlier this year. That, coupled with rapidly-expanding user bases for WhatsApp Channels, should keep Meta front and center with its user base and make its advertising partners happy as well.
Turning to Wall Street, Meta Platforms stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating, thanks to 41 Buy ratings and two Holds. Further, with an average price target of $376.19, Meta Platforms stock comes with 23.1% upside potential.
