X (formely twitter) surpasses Instagram, Facebook in driving traffic via Google
'Guess we're not dead yet': Elon Musk just posted a laughing emoji after X surpassed Instagram, Facebook in driving traffic through Google — by a wide margin. Is it time to sell META?
While X may be performing better than some people had anticipated, investors might not want to ignore Meta — as the company remains a behemoth in the social media industry.
Meta’s third-quarter earnings report, for the period ending Sept. 30, 2023, shows Facebook had reached 3.05 billion monthly active users, a 3% increase from the previous year.
The broader reach of Meta’s family of services — including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, among others — amassed a whopping 3.96 billion monthly active users as of the end of Q3, marking 7% growth year over year. This figure represents approximately half of the global population.
Meta has also seen improvements in user monetization. In Q3, Facebook’s average revenue per user (ARPU) rose to $11.23, up from $9.41 in the same quarter the previous year.
The company’s total revenue in Q3 grew by 23% year over year, reaching $34.15 billion. Net income came in at $11.58 billion, or $4.39 per share.
Meta’s stock has also shown remarkable growth, soaring 170% year to date. JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth sees further upside on the horizon. The analyst has an “Overweight” rating on Meta and a price target of $400 — roughly 18% above the current levels.