Meta shares could remain under pressure near-term, says JPMorgan

JPMorgan says the Los Angeles jury finding Meta Platforms (META) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) (GOOG, GOOGL) YouTube liable for products that led to addictive and harmful behavior by young users bypasses Section 230 protections. The “decision opens up the social media companies to thousands of other similar cases, and more importantly could force the platforms to make material product changes that could curb engagement and ultimately monetization,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan believes that in a worst-case scenario, the companies could also see backlash from brand marketers who may not want to advertise on the platforms. The “noise” could keep Meta shares under pressure or range-bound in the near-term, contends the firm.