Citi sees TikTok being removed from App store, lays out winners

Citi says that while the current White House administration has signaled it won’t implement the TikTok ban and it appears President-elect Trump is working to keep the app post his inauguration January 20, Citi believes the app is likely to be removed from the App store. The uncertainty surrounding the app creates engagement and monetization opportunities for the major social platforms, the analyst tells investors in a research note. On engagement, the firm believes the primary beneficiaries of TikTok’s 96 minutes per user per day are its main short-form video peers – Meta Platforms’ (META) Reels and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) (GOOG, GOOGL) YouTube Shorts. On monetization, Citi believes advertisers are already diversifying away from TikTok to Meta and Alphabet as well as Snap (SNAP), Pinterest (PINS), and Reddit (RDDT). Meta remains the firm’s top pick given its product cycle and the TikTok ban “providing incremental tailwinds.” It keeps a Buy rating on the shares with a $753 price target.