Meta's Stock Surge: Investors Bet on AI Agent Muse
Meta’s shares closed up 11.43% to $741.25 on Monday, fueled by investor enthusiasm for its AI agent Muse. Trading volume hit 48.5 million shares, surpassing the three-month average. This rally made Mark Zuckerberg approximately $25 billion richer in a single day, boosting his fortune to an estimated $253.6 billion, according to Forbes' calculation based on his 13% stake.
Muse, Meta's personal AI agent launched earlier this month, gained popularity quickly, overtaking ChatGPT and Claude in Apple’s iOS download rankings within two weeks. This success sparked a price target increase from Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski, who raised it to $796.
The launch of Muse marks a significant step towards Meta's vision of "personal superintelligence", as outlined in Zuckerberg's essay this summer. However, just a day after the stock surge, Amazon blocked Muse from its store due to unauthorized AI agents violating their conditions of use. Shortly after, Meta released a security patch for a vulnerability in the Muse Mac app.
Meta is set to unveil camera-less smart glasses at its Meta Connect event on September 23rd and 24th, further fueling expectations. Wells Fargo predicts significant Muse adoption at this event.