Meta’s Muse Reaches No. 3 in U.S. App Store as Analysts Split on Impact
Key Takeaways
- •Meta's AI agent Muse reached the No. 3 position on the U.S. App Store within two days of its Tuesday launch.
- •J.P. Morgan upgraded Meta to Overweight from Neutral and raised its price target to $820, implying roughly 25% upside.
- •Oppenheimer maintained a Perform rating, arguing Muse is unlikely to be a game changer due to subscription fatigue, competition from Gemini and ChatGPT, and privacy and password-access concerns.
- •Evercore ISI pointed to Meta's 3.6 billion daily users and roughly 15 million small businesses on its platforms as a foundation for AI agent adoption and monetization over time.
- •Meta stock rose 0.2% to $654.82 on Thursday following a 6.6% gain, with Wall Street price targets ranging from $580 to $1,000.
Meta Platforms’ consumer AI agent Muse reached the No. 3 position in the U.S. App Store on its second day of availability, drawing attention from Wall Street while analysts remained divided over its potential financial impact.
Meta launched Muse on Tuesday. The personal AI agent can shop online, plan travel, purchase tickets, schedule appointments, manage calendars, and send emails and messages. Its early App Store ranking gives investors an initial measure of consumer interest, although the analyst split reflects uncertainty over whether that attention will translate into sustained usage or revenue.
Meta stock rose 0.2% to $654.82 on Thursday, following a 6.6% gain the previous day. The stock trades under the ticker META.
J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth upgraded Meta to Overweight from Neutral and raised his price target from $640 to $820. The new target implies roughly 25% upside from current trading levels.
Anmuth wrote that Meta continues to have “meaningful upside potential,” citing the company’s early-stage rollout of frontier models and artificial intelligence products beyond advertising. He described frontier models as “at the core of Meta’s product and monetization pipeline over a multi-year period.”
Although monetization is not Muse’s immediate focus, Anmuth said Meta could eventually generate revenue through commissions and subscriptions.
Analysts Point to Meta’s Scale
Evercore ISI reiterated its Outperform rating and $860 price target. The firm said it sees a greater than 50% chance that Meta can successfully deploy AI agents for consumers and small businesses.
Evercore highlighted Meta’s 3.6 billion daily users and said approximately 15 million small businesses worldwide currently operate on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The firm expects adoption and monetization to become material over time.
KeyBanc maintained its Overweight rating and $780 price target, emphasizing Muse’s focus on privacy and security. Bernstein also reiterated an Outperform rating and said Meta is on track to surpass Google Search in advertising revenue this year.
Oppenheimer Remains Skeptical
Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein took a less optimistic view. The firm reiterated its Perform rating and said Muse is unlikely to be a “game changer” for Meta.
“We remain skeptical of the financial benefits,” Helfstein wrote.
His concerns center on consumer subscription fatigue. Alphabet’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT are already available, and Helfstein questioned whether enough users will pay for another AI service over the long term.
He also pointed to continuing concerns about data privacy and password sharing. U.S. consumers remain wary of Meta on those issues, while Helfstein noted that Muse requires full password access to be useful for e-commerce.
“New Siri via Gemini and next version of ChatGPT could support such activity,” he added, indicating that competing products could also offer similar capabilities.
Meta’s gross profit margin stands at 81.75%, while its revenue growth is 27.65%. Wall Street’s current price targets for the stock range from $580 to $1,000.
