Threads Tops 150M Daily Users; Meta Warns on Near-Term Revenue

Meta announced during its latest earnings call that Threads has surpassed 150 million daily active users and expanded advertisements to over 200 countries, according to the company’s financial disclosures. However, Meta cautioned that Threads and WhatsApp Status are unlikely to generate meaningful revenue in the near term, with CFO Susan Li citing user geography and account-linking constraints as factors limiting monetization.

Threads Growth and Ad Strategy

Threads continued expanding in the first quarter, led by user activity in the United States and Japan, with particular engagement in sports, entertainment, and reality content categories. Meta is maintaining low ad volume while optimizing relevance and delivery mechanisms, according to Li’s remarks.

WhatsApp Status Monetization

WhatsApp Status advertisements already reach hundreds of millions of users daily and are expected to roll out globally during 2024. Meta expects limited revenue impact over the next several years because many users operate in lower ad-spend markets and some accounts lack Meta linking for audience targeting, Li stated.

Analyst Projections

While Meta’s leadership has downplayed near-term revenue prospects, financial analysts project significant long-term monetization potential. Barclays estimates WhatsApp and Threads could generate as much as $25 billion in combined ad revenue across 2026 and 2027. Evercore projects WhatsApp monetization alone could reach a $10 billion annual ad revenue run rate by 2028, citing Meta’s disclosure that 1.5 billion people use WhatsApp’s Updates tab daily, where Status appears.

AI Data Integration and Privacy Concerns

The ad expansion aligns with Meta’s policy of tailoring advertisements based on user interactions with Meta AI, the company’s AI assistant integrated across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Meta leverages cross-platform interactions to shape ad and content recommendations. Privacy advocates have raised concerns that users cannot opt out of this data sharing arrangement, while Meta benefits when AI tools prompt users to disclose additional personal information. Critics argue the policy creates a new source of ad targeting data, including potential “proxy” use of sensitive details from messaging content and related topics.