Meta Platforms


META

is continuing its creator-friendly policy by not charging any fees for Subscriptions, Badges, Paid Online Events and Bulletin until Jan 1, 2024.

The company also announced that it is opening Facebook Stars to all eligible creators across multiple formats: Facebook Live, on-demand videos and Facebook Reels. Facebook Stars are digital goods that users can buy to support creators.

The latest moves, which expand monetization opportunities for creators, are a part of Meta’s initiatives to retain existing as well as attract new creators who are essential to boost user engagement across Facebook and Instagram.

New Features to Help Creators Develop Business for Metaverse

Meta has been undertaking several initiatives to help creators develop their own businesses and prepare for the metaverse. The company recently announced several new features and tools across Facebook and Instagram for creators.

Creators are expected to play a key role in developing the metaverse economy. Meta’s latest initiatives will surely benefit them in creating attractive brands and products for the metaverse.

Meta is now testing Interoperable Subscriber Groups on Facebook. Through this, creators can receive payments from users on other platforms, and automatically add them to subscribers-only Facebook groups. Meta is also expanding its test of digital collectibles like NFTs on Instagram as it continues to build for the metaverse.

The metaverse space has become the company’s key focus in recent times due to the huge growth opportunities it presents. Meta is expected to spend more than $10 billion over the next 10 years to build the metaverse.

The metaverse market, globally,

is expected to reach $800 billion by 2024

, per a Bloomberg report. According to a latest report from Fortune Business Insights, the global metaverse market is expected to witness a CAGR of 47.6% between 2022 and 2029 to reach from an estimated $100.27 billion in 2022 to $1,527.55 billion by 2029.

Meta has been a frontrunner in grabbing this opportunity, given its experience in developing devices like the Quest headset. Meta is also set to release the higher-end headset — Project Cambria — later this year, which is anticipated help it retain the leading position in the Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality device space.

Additionally, Meta is anticipated to launch a digital clothing store where users can purchase designer outfits for their avatars in the metaverse. Brands like Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne will be initially available for purchase.

What Awaits Meta Stock in 2022?

Meta is having a terrible 2022, primarily attributable to engagement-related headwinds as well as changes made by

Apple


AAPL

in its iOS that has made ad targeting difficult. Intensifying competition for ad dollars and user engagement from the likes of

Snap


SNAP

,

Twitter


TWTR

and TikTok have been other headwind.

Shares of this social-networking giant are down 53.7% year to date, underperforming the Zacks

Computer & Technology

sector, which has dropped 30.6% over the same time frame. Snap shares are down 72.2% while Twitter’s has declined 10.9%.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has hurt advertisers’ budgets. Rising inflation as well as slowing economy is expected to trigger budget cuts. This doesn’t bode well for Meta as well as its ad-revenue-dependent peers like Twitter and Snap.

Nevertheless, Snap is benefiting from improving user engagement, particularly in the 13-34-year-old demography, which is expanding its advertiser base. Snap is also providing competition to Meta in the metaverse. Snap has collaborated with Vogue to feature a virtual try-on experience of select pieces from Balenciaga, Dior and Gucci, which will be available for Snapchatters globally.

Meta expects engagement headwinds and ad-targeting difficulty due to Apple’s iOS changes to hurt advertising revenue growth throughout 2022. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s second-quarter guidance also reflects macroeconomic and forex concerns. You can see

the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Meta’s second-quarter 2022 revenues is currently pegged at $29.03 billion, indicating 0.2% decline from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. The consensus mark for earnings stands at $2.57 per share, down 1.2% over the past 30 days and suggesting a decline of 28.81% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

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