Meta (NASDAQ: META) -- that is to say, Facebook and Instagram -- went all in on the metaverse when it announced the change to its corporate name in late 2021. That strategic pivot backfired in 2022, though. With digital ads (still far and away the company's only revenue stream that matters) taking a hit this past year, the market turned its magnifying glass on profit margins and didn't like what it found. Meta has been spending far too aggressively on a business model that won't pay off for many years.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has thus billed 2023 as the "year of efficiency" as the company gets back to focusing on its social media app bread-and-butter. The next growth pillar for Meta won't be the metaverse after all but instead could be none other than WhatsApp. 

Meta announced its acquisition of internet-based messaging service WhatsApp all the way back in 2014 for nearly $22 billion (higher than the original offer of $16 billion given that part of the deal was paid for in Facebook stock, which rose in value by the time the deal was closed and equity awards paid out).

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Source Fool.com