Social media giant Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) plans to launch Threads in the European market next month, according to the Wall Street Journal.
While the rival to X (formerly Twitter) was introduced in most markets during its launch in July, its entry into Europe underscores Meta’s intent. The company is forging ahead, although European regulations for online content and social media platforms remain tight, and Meta has had quite a few challenges in this major market so far.
Reportedly, Meta will comply with the regulations. Users in Europe will have a choice of whether to use Threads solely for the consumption of posts, without ever creating their own posts.
Amid the present environment of geopolitical upheaval and a flood of fake content, social media companies, including Meta, have had to take substantial steps to remain compliant with rules and survive regulatory scrutiny.
Of note, Threads’ European expansion comes just as Elon Musk’s X suffers from an exodus of major advertisers from the platform after some of Mr. Musk’s not-so-popular recent comments. In contrast, Threads quickly reached over 70 million monthly global users post-launch, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is already eyeing a billion users over the coming years.
While X still outstrips Threads with over 360 million global monthly users, Mr. Zuckerberg seems to be taking rapid opportune steps to capitalize on the turmoil at X.
Is META a Buy, Sell, or a Hold?
Overall, the Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Meta Platforms and the average META price target of $387.71 points to a 16.7% potential upside in the stock. That’s on top of a nearly 203% rally in the company’s share price over the past year.
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