Shares of Meta Platforms are approaching the $1 trillion mark after its stock price gained 200% in 2023.
Meta’s market cap is now $966.60 billion, which means it’s $33.4 billion away from the prized $1 trillion milestone.
If Meta hits $1 trillion, it will join the ranks of fellow Big Tech peers Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia, all of which are currently valued at $1 trillion or more. Microsoft is currently leading the pack with a market cap of $2.93 trillion.
Meta has been here before. The last time the tech giant crossed the $1 trillion mark was in June 2021. The stock hit its all-time high closing valuation of $1.08 trillion on September 7 of the same year, per Dow Jones Market Data.
However, like many other tech companies, Meta faced intense challenges after demand for tech products and services dropped off following the relaxation of Covid-related movement restrictions.
In February 2022, Meta suffered the largest one-day wipeout in US corporate history after it reported fourth-quarter earnings that showed Facebook’s daily active user base shrank for the first time ever.
To cut costs, Meta laid off 11,000 people in November 2022 in the company’s first major round of layoffs ever, and promised that 2023 was going to be a “year of efficiency.”
The efforts appeared to have paid off. In the third quarter of 2023, Meta reported strong earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.
Meta’s stock gained nearly 200% in 2023, making it the second-best performing company on the S&P 500 after chipmaker Nvidia.
Meta shares closed 2.1% higher at $376.13 apiece on Thursday. They would need to close at $389.13 for the company’s market cap to hit the trillion-dollar mark, according to a MarketWatch calculation.
Meta’s share price surge has boosted the wealth of cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who holds a 13% stake in the company. He is now the world’s 6th-richest person with a net worth of $136 billion after starting 2023 with $48 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Meta’s shares are up 6.3% higher this year to date.
