With competition among social media companies getting higher by the day, Facebook (ticker: FB) investors can rest assured that the internet giant won’t be backing down from any fights. In fact, according to Loop Capital analyst Blake Harper, Facebook is actually picking a few fights of its own.
This week, Facebook rolled out a new feature for its Instagram platform which allows users to organize and save individual posts in collections. The new feature is a clear imitation of rival Pinterest’s collections feature.
[Read: Twitter Stock Remains a Huge Disappointment.]
But Pinterest isn’t the only competitor whose market share may be at risk. Instagram also recently launched a new feature allowing users to book reservations with local businesses. The move is clearly targeting the core business of Yelp ( YELP), which has more than 65 million unique mobile visitors per month and more than 138,000 local advertising clients. Loop reports that 80 percent of Instagram users are following at least one business profile on the platform.
Facebook’s data from its massive 1.86 billion monthly active users and its huge network of established advertising clients could pose a major threat to Yelp if Instagram’s local booking feature gains traction.
Facebook is also taking on Snap ( SNAP) with its new Instagram Stories feature. Instagram Stories is less than a year old, but the feature already has more than 200 million daily active users. Instagram has also emulated Snapchat’s familiar disappearing photos and videos features.
Facebook is even reportedly picking a fight with its largest online advertising rival, Alphabet ( GOOG, GOOGL). Facebook has been testing location-based search and discovery features similar to services Google Maps provides.
“We have confidence the company can grow revenue 35 percent-plus in 2017 with Instagram and video contributing a larger share,” Harper says of Facebook.
“We expect Instagram to continue to rapidly innovate with new features that mimic what is successful elsewhere, which it can afford to do given its scale and resources.”
[Read: What’s Next for Facebook Stock?]
Loop Capital currently has a “buy” rating and $175 price target for Facebook stock.
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Facebook Inc (FB) Brings the Fight to Social Media Foes originally appeared on usnews.com
