Looking for Elon Musk's jet? Don't ask Mark Zuckerberg.
The relationship between Tesla (TSLA) 's CEO and the top executive at Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms (META) , hasn't always been healthy.
Related: Analysts update Meta stock price target with Q3 earnings in focus
In fact, there was much talk about the two billionaires duking it out in a mixed martial arts cage brawl, but Zuckerberg eventually pulled the plug on the tech titan rumble.
"I think we can all agree Elon isn't serious, and it's time to move on," he wrote in August on Threads, Meta's response to X, formerly Twitter, which Musk owns and which reportedly sparked the beef in the first place. "If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me."
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Nevertheless, both Threads and Meta’s Instagram have suspended accounts that track the private jets of celebrities and billionaires.
Jack Sweeney, a Florida college student who runs several jet-tracking accounts, said in an Oct. 21 Threads post that his pages where he tracks flights by Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, and others have been suspended on Instagram and Threads without warning.
"Jet tracking on Instagram and Threads got Zucked," he said.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Meta CEO cites importance of AI
Sweeney wrote that “today feels like December 15th, 2022,” referencing the time Musk permanently suspended his @ElonJet account from Twitter.
He has maintained that his tracking accounts don’t violate any rules, as they share publicly available information through the Federal Aviation Administration.
Related: Analyst reset Meta stock price target ahead of Q3 earnings
“Given the risk of physical harm to individuals, and in keeping with the independent Oversight Board’s recommendation, we’ve disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policy,” said a Meta spokesperson in an emailed statement to TechCrunch.
This latest drama comes as Lumen Technologies (LUMN) announced that the telecommunications company was partnering with Meta to increase Meta's network capacity to help drive future artificial intelligence applications.
Lumen said the partnership provides Meta with "increased flexibility through secure on-demand bandwidth to support its complex computing needs and serve billions of people every day."
Zuckerberg has been a big proponent of AI, telling analysts during the company's July earnings call that "across Facebook and Instagram, advances in AI continue to improve the quality of recommendations and drive engagement."
"We keep finding that as we develop more general recommendation models, content recommendations get better period," he said.
Lumen shares have soared 238% year to date, and the company's stock has jumped 344.6% from a year ago.
Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan said that he believed this is a delayed announcement from Meta related to their participation in a previously announced $5 billion conduit network deal from August, according to The Fly.
Lumen’s stock took off after the company said it had secured $5 billion in new business—including a deal with Microsoft (MSFT) —due to AI’s heavy demand for connectivity.
Louthan said that it is unclear if there is anything incremental in the announcement from what was already known was coming to Lumen, though it likely explains the recent strength in the name.
Analyst says expectations are high for Meta
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms said in a blog post that it is testing facial recognition to spot “celeb-bait” ad scams on its various platforms.
Related: Analysts revamp Apple stock forecast on iPhone trend
"Scammers are relentless and continuously evolve their tactics to try to evade detection, so we’re building on our existing defenses by testing new ways to protect people and make it harder for scammers to deceive others," the post said.
The social media giant said that scammers often use images of public figures, such as content creators or celebrities, to bait people into engaging with ads that lead to scam websites, where they are asked to share personal information or send money.
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Meta is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Oct. 30. The company's stock has climbed 64.1% since the start of 2024, and shares are up 88.3% from a year ago,
In its July second-quarter earnings report, Meta reported earnings of $5.16 per share, beating Wall Street's projection of $4.73. The company generated $39.07 billion in revenue, surpassing the expected $38.31 billion.
Meta also provided an optimistic forecast for the third quarter, projecting revenue from $38.5 billion to $41 billion, above analysts' $39.1 billion target.
On Oct. 22, Jefferies raised the firm's price target on Meta Platforms to $675 from $600 and kept a buy rating on the shares as part of its third-quarter earnings preview.
Expectations are high, with Meta shares up 21% since the second-quarter report, the firm said, but channel checks continue to be bullish, giving Jefferies conviction in revenue coming in above the midpoint of the company's Q3 guidance.
The firm also expects Meta to guide Q4 revenue above Wall Street at the high end.
Jefferies sees a pathway to $26-plus in fiscal 2025 earnings, making a $30 2026 earnings per share story “seem possible.” The firm continues to be encouraged by Meta's ability to sustain double-digit revenue growth.
Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
