We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Facebook's Messenger App Crosses 1.2B Monthly Active Users
Read MoreHide Full Article
With each passing day, Facebook Inc. is achieving a new milestone. The global social networking giant yesterday revealed that its home grown chat platform – Messenger – has crossed the 1.2 billion monthly active users (MAU) mark, roughly the same as WhatsApp which achieved this milestone two months ago.
The 1.2 billion mark represents over 100% growth from approximately 600 MAU base in Mar 2015. Earlier in July last year, the company had announced that its MAU have doubled from Nov 2014 and touched the 1 billion milestone.
Messenger is Facebook’s third platform, with over 1.2 billion MAU. Facebook’s fast growing MAUs reflect the popularity of all its apps including WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. We note that these are far more popular than rival social media apps like Twitter and SNAP Inc.’s (SNAP - Free Report) Snapchat.
The Messenger platform has been witnessing tremendous surge in its active user base after Facebook split it off and created a standalone company in 2014. Since the split, the platform has added various useful features like voice calling, individual and group video calling, stickers, frames, etc. which helped in expanding its user base.
Most recently, Facebook introduced artificial intelligence (AI) powered voice assistant, M for Messenger, which will help users with suggestions to improve their communication experience on the app. For the time being, Suggestions from M will be available to users across the U.S., with global launch in the near term.
Furthermore, the company in February this year, partnered with TransferWise Ltd., an international money transfer service, that will enable users to make international transactions over the Messenger app. Notably, in Sep 2016, Messenger provided tools to developers, enabling ‘bots’ to accept and make payments within the U.S., thereby eliminating the need to redirect to an external website.
Messenger’s consistent growth in user base has heated the debate that Facebook should now make efforts to monetize the platform. The social media platform too is aggressively working on monetizing the opportunities presented by its subsidiaries. Chatbots and “conversational commerce” are likely to be the strategies for Messenger.
Various analysts believe that it will be wise for Facebook to ramp up the monetizing experiment on Messenger rather than trying on the WhatsApp platform. This is so because Facebook’s balance sheet carries a hefty amount of goodwill related to the WhatsApp acquisition and if the experiment fails it will impact the company’s financials badly. However, attempting the same on Messenger will not carry such risks for the company as it is Facebook’s in-house developed chat platform.
Therefore, in our opinion, the company should look for options to generate ad revenues from Messenger as the competition for ad dollars from the likes of Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat has been intensifying rapidly.
Notably, ad revenues contribute over 95% to Facebook’s total revenue. Continuous rise in advertising revenues as well as the company’s strategic efforts to sustain the growth momentum has put Facebook on investors' favorite stock pick list. Notably, in the past one year, Facebook’s shares generated a return of 26% compared with the Zacks Internet Services industry’s return of just 5%.
Today you are invited to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 ""Strong Buys"" free of charge. From 1988 through 2015 this list has averaged a stellar gain of +25% per year. Plus, you may download 220 Zacks Rank #5 ""Strong Sells."" Even though this list holds many stocks that seem to be solid, it has historically performed 6X worse than the market. See these critical buys and sells free >>
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Facebook's Messenger App Crosses 1.2B Monthly Active Users
With each passing day, Facebook Inc. is achieving a new milestone. The global social networking giant yesterday revealed that its home grown chat platform – Messenger – has crossed the 1.2 billion monthly active users (MAU) mark, roughly the same as WhatsApp which achieved this milestone two months ago.
The 1.2 billion mark represents over 100% growth from approximately 600 MAU base in Mar 2015. Earlier in July last year, the company had announced that its MAU have doubled from Nov 2014 and touched the 1 billion milestone.
Messenger is Facebook’s third platform, with over 1.2 billion MAU. Facebook’s fast growing MAUs reflect the popularity of all its apps including WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. We note that these are far more popular than rival social media apps like Twitter and SNAP Inc.’s (SNAP - Free Report) Snapchat.
The Messenger platform has been witnessing tremendous surge in its active user base after Facebook split it off and created a standalone company in 2014. Since the split, the platform has added various useful features like voice calling, individual and group video calling, stickers, frames, etc. which helped in expanding its user base.
Most recently, Facebook introduced artificial intelligence (AI) powered voice assistant, M for Messenger, which will help users with suggestions to improve their communication experience on the app. For the time being, Suggestions from M will be available to users across the U.S., with global launch in the near term.
Furthermore, the company in February this year, partnered with TransferWise Ltd., an international money transfer service, that will enable users to make international transactions over the Messenger app. Notably, in Sep 2016, Messenger provided tools to developers, enabling ‘bots’ to accept and make payments within the U.S., thereby eliminating the need to redirect to an external website.
Messenger’s consistent growth in user base has heated the debate that Facebook should now make efforts to monetize the platform. The social media platform too is aggressively working on monetizing the opportunities presented by its subsidiaries. Chatbots and “conversational commerce” are likely to be the strategies for Messenger.
Various analysts believe that it will be wise for Facebook to ramp up the monetizing experiment on Messenger rather than trying on the WhatsApp platform. This is so because Facebook’s balance sheet carries a hefty amount of goodwill related to the WhatsApp acquisition and if the experiment fails it will impact the company’s financials badly. However, attempting the same on Messenger will not carry such risks for the company as it is Facebook’s in-house developed chat platform.
Therefore, in our opinion, the company should look for options to generate ad revenues from Messenger as the competition for ad dollars from the likes of Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat has been intensifying rapidly.
Notably, ad revenues contribute over 95% to Facebook’s total revenue. Continuous rise in advertising revenues as well as the company’s strategic efforts to sustain the growth momentum has put Facebook on investors' favorite stock pick list. Notably, in the past one year, Facebook’s shares generated a return of 26% compared with the Zacks Internet Services industry’s return of just 5%.
At present, Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Best & Worst of Zacks
Today you are invited to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 ""Strong Buys"" free of charge. From 1988 through 2015 this list has averaged a stellar gain of +25% per year. Plus, you may download 220 Zacks Rank #5 ""Strong Sells."" Even though this list holds many stocks that seem to be solid, it has historically performed 6X worse than the market. See these critical buys and sells free >>