Meta shares rose around 1.5% to $747.80 on 23 September, taking their gain for the month to nearly 30% as its Muse AI agent weighed on consumer-service stocks, Investors.com reported. Shares gained a further 4.5% on 24 September, CNBC reported, after Meta presented Muse at its Connect conference.
Key points
- KeyBanc raised its Meta price target to $900 from $780 on 22 September.
- Expedia shares were down 6% at $263.75 on 23 September, despite its Muse integration.
- Amazon blocked Muse purchases, while Expedia and Maplebear launched connections to the agent.
KeyBanc lifts Meta target to $900
Muse launched on 8 September and reached the top of Apple’s App Store charts, Investors.com reported. It overtook ChatGPT in Apple’s App Store, CNBC reported. Meta is positioning the app to respond to emails, arrange travel and shop on a user’s behalf. Those tasks put it in contact with businesses whose customers have previously dealt with them through their own websites and apps.
KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Justin Patterson raised his Meta price target to $900 from $780 in a client note dated 22 September. Patterson said Muse’s momentum supported his view that Meta had several ways to increase revenue and that sentiment towards consumer AI could improve, Investors.com reported.
The app’s rise has accompanied losses across several consumer-service stocks. Expedia and Booking Holdings shares fell following Muse’s launch. Expedia was down 6% at $263.75 during trading on 23 September. Insurer Allstate and brokerage Charles Schwab also came under pressure on 22 September.
Goldman Sachs analysts identified telecoms, utilities and insurers among businesses that benefit when customers put off switching providers or cancelling recurring payments. Muse’s proposed work on subscriptions puts that source of customer retention in focus for investors, though a change in share prices is separate from a change in cancellations.
Expedia and Maplebear open Muse Connectors
Expedia and Instacart parent Maplebear said on 22 September that they had launched Connectors through which Muse users could access their platforms. Shopify and PayPal had introduced similar integrations earlier that week. Expedia’s decision gives the travel company a route into bookings made through the agent even as its shares have fallen.
The Shopify arrangement includes Shop Pay checkout, and Shopify shares rose 8% after that integration, AI Affairs previously reported. The moves place payment and shopping services inside the assistant rather than requiring users to begin each transaction on a provider’s own platform.
Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Cost said Booking Holdings and Airbnb would probably face pressure to partner with Muse after Expedia’s move. Cost said the Expedia connection could bring the travel platform additional room nights at a low acquisition cost in the short term. That assessment depends on users completing bookings through Muse, rather than merely trying its travel tools.
Meta says Muse can research topics, complete forms and keep working after a user closes the app, Mashable reported. Meta also says users choose which services to connect and that the agent requests approval before sensitive actions, including purchases. Zuckerberg suggested Meta could eventually charge a small fee on transactions completed with Muse.
Amazon and Insurify restrict Muse access
Amazon said on 21 September that it was blocking Muse from making purchases on its marketplace. Online insurance marketplace Insurify announced on 23 September that it had blocked the agent from its platform. Insurify said automated collection of its data risked separating insurance quotes from information it considered important to consumers, and said it was open to an integration that met its standards, Investors.com reported.
Those restrictions distinguish access granted through a Connector from an agent attempting to use a service without one. They also leave Meta with different routes into the same consumer tasks: Expedia has chosen an integration for travel, while Amazon has barred Muse purchases on its marketplace.
RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson compared Muse’s marketplace partnerships with earlier arrangements between ChatGPT and internet marketplaces. He said Meta brought consumer and supplier distribution to its agent, while arguing that Google and Amazon had advantages of their own in reaching shoppers and businesses.
Zuckerberg presents Muse Charm at Connect
At Connect on 23 September, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg presented the Muse Charm, a handheld device intended to give users access to the agent. AI Affairs reported the device’s unveiling at the conference.
CNBC reported that Meta was also preparing to bring Muse to its smart glasses in the coming months. Zuckerberg said the Charm would contain a fingerprint sensor that users could activate to speak to their agent. He said Meta still had to settle its materials and component layout to have the device ready to ship for the holidays.
