Social media, and increasingly tech, giant Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) hasn’t exactly had it all its own way lately. With several states poised to sue over its potential—if somewhat dubious—harm to children, and a series of other lawsuits firing up, the news out of the European Union isn’t exactly good either. And, in spite of that news, Meta investors kept the dream alive and sent shares up nearly 2% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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The latest news focused on Norwegian regulators, who delivered a ban on the “processing of personal data for behavioral advertising” on Meta, which included not only Facebook, but also Instagram. For those unsure what the bureaucrat talk translates into, it’s basically Meta’s brand of highly-targeted data-driven advertising. And what’s worse, the Norwegian ban got taken up by the European Data Protection Board, and was subsequently expanded to include all of Europe. Meta offered a statement regarding this, noting that its new subscription model to avoid advertising entirely will provide the necessary “opportunity to consent” that is apparently required by EU rules.
However, this may not be the blow some might imagine. Already, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has described what is to be the “next big business” for Meta: business messaging. In fact, Meta is looking to put AI to work in business messaging as a means to not only lower costs, but also “…expand commerce in messaging into larger economies around the world.” There is, of course, a wide range of options already available when it comes to business messaging, but the combination of AI and the Meta brand name and infrastructure might be enough to change a few minds and break out some entrenched users.
Is Meta Platforms Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
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. Furthermore, the average META price target of $384.62 per share implies 25.36% upside potential.
