It seems that Meta Platforms Inc (Nasdaq: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finally shifted his focus away from the metaverse sinkhole. Speaking to anxious employees at a company-wide meeting on Thursday, the CEO said that WhatsApp and Messenger would propel the company’s revenue growth.
The meeting comes a little over a week after Meta announced that it would be laying off 11,000 employees, following a 52% decline in quarterly net profit and a fall in stock value by about 70% since the beginning of the year.
Zuckerberg’s shift to the two messaging apps almost comes as a surprise. Until very recently, the CEO staunchly and stubbornly pushed to realize his metaverse vision, siphoning around 20% of the company’s budget into Reality Labs, the unit developing the project, and refusing to heed to investors’ concerns over if this was the right direction to take when the company’s core advertising business was struggling and the stock was falling.
“We talk a lot about the very long-term opportunities like the metaverse, but the reality is that business messaging is probably going to be the next major pillar of our business as we work to monetize WhatsApp and Messenger more,” he said, noting that the company is “very early in monetizing” the two apps compared to Facebook and Instagram,
The company has been slowly rolling out new business-to-consumer features on WhatsApp, including an integration with Salesforce to allow businesses to chat with their customers, and another with India’s Jio Platforms that lets customers in India get groceries delivered through the app.
Seeking Alpha meanwhile reports that the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, increased its stake in Meta in the third quarter.
Information for this briefing was found via Reuters, Seeking Alpha, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
