Shares of one of tech's biggest names have come under relentless pressure over the past year as its CEO pursued a quixotic quest to develop the next big thing.
But that slide may finally have hit bottom, one analyst argues.
Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein’s annual price target indicates that Meta Platforms (META) could see as much as a 27% jump in stock price over the coming year. His conclusion comes as a result of Meta’s big investments in artificial intelligence and initiatives to cut costs.
For years, Meta has been at the forefront of virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology. A lot of that investment has been aimed at platforming CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pet project, The Metaverse. But it appears some of that tech has more potentially lucrative uses.
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The company is also using AI for monetization purposes -- algorithms and internal user data help advertisers get their products in front of more relevant shoppers, making a buy more likely. The use of this technology will likely attract advertisers and their marketing dollars.
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Between costs saved by staff layoffs and AI-assisted workflow, analysts believe that Meta Platforms will see a large boost in stock value over the course of a year.
Last week, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta announced another round of layoffs. This comes swiftly after the company's previous round a few months ago, which cut nearly 13% of Meta's overall workforce.
"We're working on flattening our [organizational] structure and removing some layers of middle management to make decisions faster," Zuckerberg explained in the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. He also said that the company is "deploying AI tools to help our engineers be more productive."
