Facebook’s Instagram is estimated to be worth more than US$100-billion (R1.4-trillion), if it were a standalone company, marking a 100-fold return for the app was purchased in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
The photo-sharing platform, which reached a billion monthly active users earlier this month, will likely help nudge Facebook revenue past $10-billion over the next 12 months, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jitendra Waral wrote in a report on Monday.
Instagram is attracting new users faster than Facebook’s main site and is on track to exceed two billion users within the next five years, Waral said. While the social network already has surpassed that milestone, Instagram’s audience is younger than its parent, making it more attractive to advertisers. And unlike Facebook, Instagram is still growing in the US.
Instagram could account for about 16% of Facebook’s revenue over the next year, up from 10.6% last year, according to eMarketer data. The unit announced the addition of Instagram television, or IGTV, last week as an attempt to catalyse future growth. Most of Instagram’s 2018 revenue growth will still likely come from its newsfeed ads, as the TV platform is still developing, Waral said.
Facebook shares slipped 3.6% to $194.48 at 12.26pm in New York, as the broader market also declined. The stock has gained 10% so far this year, compared to a 1.4% gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. — Reported by Emily McCormick, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP