Tech giant Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) walled garden operations—in which it keeps a very close rein on what it allows to access its massive user base—have sparked controversy in the past. But now, social media major Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is making some moves that will let it profit from Apple, and that was enough for investors to put an extra 3% into Meta’s operations in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
The latest word notes that Meta Platforms will charge extra for those purchasing a “boost” for their posts if the posts are placed on the iOS version of either Facebook or Instagram. The extra would be a 30% service charge, which would then be paid to Apple. If those same customers instead use a plain web interface—like a web browser, whether mobile or otherwise—the 30% charge won’t kick in. This makes it a pretty safe bet that no one will boost a post made through iOS.
Increasingly Adversarial
This isn’t the first time that Apple and Meta have butted heads; just yesterday Mark Zuckerberg shocked absolutely no one by declaring that the Meta Quest 3 headset was a superior product to the Apple Vision Pro. As Apple and Meta find themselves increasingly in competition, more flare-ups like this may well kick in. But leaving that conflict aside, Meta is also benefiting from some new additions to the board. This includes Arnold Ventures co-founder John Arnold and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) CEO Hock E. Tan.
Is Meta Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 38 Buys, two Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 182.2% rally in its share price over the past year, the average META price target of $528.54 per share implies 8.26% upside potential.
