Following Facebook's (FB) annual global developer conference, Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Sandler believes only two app developers in western markets can attempt to keep pace with the company, Google (GOOG) and Snapchat. Every other app developer "is getting relegated to niche verticals or demographics," Sandler tells investors in a research note. Facebook is scaling up user growth faster than any other consumer internet company and its now doing a better job at communicating to key stakeholders its long term vision, the analyst contends. He likes the company's Bots strategy and thinks its Messenger monetization is still in the early days. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on Facebook with a $145 price target. The stock was volatile yesterday after AdParlor, a Facebook advertising partner, told research firm CLSA on a conference call that its ad spend on Facebook was down 18% quarter-over-quarter in Q1. Late in the day, however, AdParlor's director of communications told Bloomberg that the employee on the call was "junior level" and that his data was "incomplete."

TikTok Policy issued the following statement on the enactment of "the TikTok Ban": "This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court. We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation. This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans. As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue investing and innovating to ensure TikTok remains a space where Americans of all walks of life can safely come to share their experiences, find joy, and be inspired." Publicly traded companies in the social media space that compete with TikTok include Meta Platforms (META), Alphabet (GOOGL), Pinterest (PINS) and Snap (SNAP). Reference Link

Meta Platforms (META), the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, Threads and other brands, is scheduled to report first quarter 2024 results after market close on Wednesday, April 24 with a conference call scheduled for 5 pm ET. Here's what to... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here