Meta Platforms unveiled its standalone AI app on Tuesday, marking a significant move against OpenAI's ChatGPT. The launch comes just 24 hours before the company's first earnings report of the year.
The app, built on Meta's llama models, includes an AI assistant, image generation, and a 'discover' feed to showcase user prompts, mirroring strategies seen in recent roll-outs from Google's Gemini and xAI's Grok, as reported by .
The announcement was made during Meta's developer conference in Melo Park, at a critical time for the company. Despite the tech giant's emphasis on its open-source credentials, Lamma 4 – its latest family of generative AI models – has faced criticism for mixed performance and controversy over benchmark manipulation.
Ion Stoica, co-founder of LM Arena, commented: "They should have been more explicit that the Maverick model was not the same one released," Despite Meta's leadership claiming that "2025 is the year a highly intelligent and personalised AI assistant reaches a billion people," developer enthusiasm appears to be waning.
Wall Street awaits
Wall Street will be closely watching Meta's financial results on Wednesday, scrutinising how effectively its $60-65bn (£44.78- 48.51bn) investment in AI infrastructure is translating into growth. Analysts predict earnings per share (EPS) of $5.21 (£3.89) on revenue of $41.2bn (£30.75bn), a 13% increase from a year ago.
However, recent downward revisions suggest growing caution.
Free cash flow is expected to drop by 31 per cent to $8.6bn (£6.42bn) due to a surge in capex.
The situation is further complicated by tariffs. The termination of the 'de minimis' exemption on 2nd May, which has protected imports under $800 (£597.12) from duties, could increase costs for leading Chinese advertisers like Temu and Shein.
This could impact advertising budgets and affect Meta's bottom line later this year.
"Second-half visibility is murky, and the tariff shift may only amplify uncertainty," stated CFRA's Angelo Zino, who anticipates guidance to reflect a wider range of outcomes.
However, some analysts believe that Meta's size provides a buffer.
"Meta is more resilient than peers," claimed Baird's Ted Mortonson, highlighting the company's 3.4bn monthly users.
While Meta has surpassed EPS estimates for four consecutive quarters, its ability to monetise generative AI will be crucial in maintaining investor confidence.
"Any concrete progress on AI monetisation could lift the multiple," suggested Morningstar's Malik Ahmed Khan.
With 88 per cent of analysts rating it a buy and an average price target of $707, Wall Street remains optimistic – yet expectations are high.
