Giant social media platforms (Meta)Nasdaq: Meta) Join a growing group of companies making massive layoffs. This time, the layoffs are hitting one department that hasn’t seen so many before, and the news was enough for investors to push stocks modestly higher in Friday afternoon trading.
The cuts this time around were relatively light and included around 60 “software art directors,” all of whom reside within Meta’s Instagram group. The sixty or so people were given two months to find different jobs within the company or face being laid off completely. At the same time, the product teams within Instagram have also been reorganized, but without losing functionality. One of the areas the company is focusing on is the segment dedicated entirely to content creators targeting teenage users.
Increased focus on adolescents
Instagram’s reorganization is noteworthy for another reason: its unexpected focus on teens. This follows news that came just three days ago, straight from the Meta blogs. One such entry, titled “New protections to give teens more age-appropriate experiences on our apps,” explains the connection here well.
Meta announced that it plans to “…hide more types of content for teens on Instagram and Facebook, in line with expert guidance.” Restricted content controls, search terms, and more are also part of the package. This may be a way to insulate Meta from the various lawsuits that have been filed in some states over social media use by teens.
What is the fair value of META?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 37 Buys and 2 Holds set in the past three months, as shown in the chart below. After its stock price rose 172.91% over the past year, META’s average price target of $397.31 per share indicates upside potential of 6.14%.
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