Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport

Tracking Traffic

Focusing on Asian logistics, transportation, and travel companies

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport, Tracking Traffic

Daniel Hellberg

Equity Bottom-Up

Meta Platforms (Facebook) / Equity Bottom-Up

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and almost four dozen US states and territories have filed antitrust suits against <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/facebook-inc-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:665:1" rel="noopener">Facebook Inc A (FB US)</a>, seeking to force the social giant to divest its Instagram and Whatsapp functions. For the suits against FB to succeed, the plaintiffs must establish that FB a) enjoys monopoly power that it has used to stifle smaller rivals and that b) consumers have been harmed as a result. Proving that consumers have been harmed will likely prove especially, in our opinion. For its part, FB executives have made it clear they view efforts to break up the company as an "existential threat".So how will the suits play out? The US government's case appears to have bi-partisan and popular support, and FB has made it clear they intend to fight. We expect this case to move slowly, perhaps requiring years to resolve. A clear win for the US government is unlikely; a more likely outcome would be a settlement in which FB agrees to limit its expansion in certain areas and/or its commercial use of user data. Increased scrutiny of FB's practices and a potential settlement could slow FB's growth, but is this really a growth stock? In Q320, OP increased by just 12% on 22% revenue growth, and consensus estimates for 2021e call for similar growth. In our view, the suits represent a likely headache for FB, but not much more, and are thus unlikely to have much impact beyond the company, either.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and almost four dozen US states and territories have filed antitrust suits against Facebook Inc A (FB US), seeking to force the social giant to divest its Instagram and Whatsapp functions. For the suits against FB to succeed, the plaintiffs must establish that FB a) enjoys monopoly power that it has used to stifle smaller rivals and that b) consumers have been harmed as a result. Proving that consumers have been harmed will likely prove especially, in our opinion. For its part, FB executives have made it clear they view efforts to break up the company as an "existential threat".So how will the suits play out? The US government's case appears to have bi-partisan and popular support, and FB has made it clear they intend to fight. We expect this case to move slowly, perhaps requiring years to resolve. A clear win for the US government is unlikely; a more likely outcome would be a settlement in which FB agrees to limit its expansion in certain areas and/or its commercial use of user data. Increased scrutiny of FB's practices and a potential settlement could slow FB's growth, but is this really a growth stock? In Q320, OP increased by just 12% on 22% revenue growth, and consensus estimates for 2021e call for similar growth. In our view, the suits represent a likely headache for FB, but not much more, and are thus unlikely to have much impact beyond the company, either. 

US FTC & States' Suits Against Facebook Unlikely to Result in Breakup, but Could Slow Expansion