Meta Platforms (META) set off a small sigh of relief across the tech world on Tuesday after a federal judge ruled that the company does not hold an illegal monopoly in personal social networking. The decision means Meta will not be forced to sell Instagram or WhatsApp, a possibility that had been hanging over the stock for years.
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The Federal Trade Commission accused Meta of buying rivals to protect its dominance. Judge James Boasberg said the agency could not prove that Facebook still controls the market it once did. He pointed to how quickly platforms evolve and noted that the FTC’s preferred view of the market did not hold up.
The FTC argued Meta’s power should be judged only within “personal social networks,” a narrow slice designed to exclude TikTok and YouTube. The court said this framing did not match real-world competition. Each time the court reviewed Meta’s apps, Boasberg wrote, the products had changed along with their competitors.
Meta Secures a Win as Industry Shifts
Meta Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead told Barron’s the ruling “recognizes that Meta faces fierce competition.” She said the company remains confident regulators will eventually accept how much the landscape has diversified.
The FTC said it was “deeply disappointed” and is reviewing what options remain.
The decision follows another high-profile loss for regulators earlier this year. The government failed to force Alphabet to spin off Chrome, even after a judge said Google used anticompetitive contracts. The court noted that AI chatbots are changing search fast enough that a breakup was not warranted.
Meta’s win fits the same pattern. Judges are increasingly reluctant to order divestitures when technology moves faster than regulators can define the markets they want to police.
Ruling Steadies Meta as Legal Clouds Persist
The ruling removes one major overhang for Meta’s stock and helps restore confidence in the long-term value of Instagram and WhatsApp. These two apps remain central to Meta’s ad engine and global reach, even as Facebook’s core growth slows.
Boasberg is still presiding over other politically sensitive cases. The FTC said it will reassess its strategy, but analysts expect appeals to face the same challenge: a tech landscape evolving too quickly to pin down.
Meta now enters 2026 with more certainty around its structure, although regulatory pressure will stay part of the story. Investors are watching whether the company can use this clearer runway to deepen its push into AI, messaging commerce and mixed-reality services.
Is Meta a Good Stock to Buy?
Wall Street sentiment around Meta remains strong. 42 analysts now rate the stock, and the group leans heavily positive with 34 Buys, seven Holds, and one Sell. This gives us a ‘Strong Buy’ consensus. The average 12 month META price target sits at $846.48, which implies about 41% upside from the last close.
