Mark Zuckerberg took to his new text-based social media platform -- the Threads app -- Thursday to announce that just seven hours after its launch, Threads had gained some 10 million users. That landmark milestone is one that took Twitter 780 days to hit, and Facebook 852 days, according to Forbes.
As of late-Thursday morning, Zuckerberg said the platform had jumped to 30 million users.
Meta, whose stock has surged more than 145% so far for the year, hit a 52-week-high July 5 amid mounting excitement for the launch of the possible "Twitter Killer." Opening at $295.89, the stock spiked up to $298 in the morning before falling slightly.
DON'T MISS: Elon Musk Has a Powerful Message For Mark Zuckerberg's Threads
Amid the praise and criticism of the Twitter clone, Linda Yaccarino, Twitter's newly-appointed CEO, chimed in, applauding the power of the Twitter user base over the layout of any new social media app.
"We're often imitated -- but the Twitter community can never be duplicated. You built the Twitter community. And that's irreplaceable. This is your public square," Yaccarino tweeted. "On Twitter, everyone's voice matters. Whether you’re here to watch history unfold, discover REAL-TIME information all over the world, share your opinions, or learn about others -- on Twitter you can be real."
Elon Musk, the Twitter owner who recently challenged Zuckerberg to a cage match, echoed a similarly community-focused message, though with a slightly different angle.
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"It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram," Musk tweeted.
But Zuckerberg says he isn't trying to duplicate Twitter's community. He's trying to create a different one.
"The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands," Zuckerberg wrote in a thread. "I think it's possible and will ultimately be the key to its success. That's one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently."
Threads Could Bring in Nearly $7 Billion in Revenue
And as Threads expands, with Zuckerberg hoping to create another platform with more than one billion users, several analysts have raised their price targets for (META) -), the Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads parent.
Justin Patterson, a digital media analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, lifted his price target for Meta to $335 from $280 Wednesday, saying that Threads has the potential to generate $6.7 billion in revenue if it can spark enough of a Twitter exodus, according to Forbes.
Meta's median price target is $290, with a high of $365. The current analyst consensus for the social media behemoth is that Meta is a buy.
Meta has "gone from a cost-cutting story to a revenue-reacceleration story. They're doing very well with Reels," Hightower's Stephanie Link told CNBC. "And of course, you do have this huge install base. And now, if you do have this new competition to Twitter, that might be something else. It'll be a core position for sure."
