Meta’s subscription push draws fresh Street optimism, with Truist modeling $20B of recurring revenue by 2030

Meta Platforms shares stabilized after hours as analysts built bullish scenarios around the company’s new subscription offerings for Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and its AI chatbot, Meta AI. The renewed attention centers on what Meta could monetize if it expands beyond the initial set of paid tiers, including potential add-ons tied to future hardware.

According to a report circulating through markets coverage, Truist said Meta’s subscription features could attract more than 360 million paid subscribers. In that model, subscriptions would translate into revenue on the order of 5% of Meta’s total sales by 2030, implying an annualized subscription business of roughly $20 billion when scaled over time.

The subscription push began last month, when Meta announced pricing for paid plans across multiple apps. Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus were described as $3.99 per month, while WhatsApp Plus was described as $2.99 per month. For Meta AI, the basic tier was described as $7.99 per month and a premium tier as $19.99 per month.

The Street view is that paid tiers, while initially small compared with Meta’s advertising engine, can add a steadier, higher-quality revenue component as the company diversifies away from purely digital ads. Meta’s revenue still heavily depends on advertising, and the underwriting in the Truist scenario appears premised on growing willingness to pay for additional features and capabilities across Meta’s product suite.

The note also suggested that Meta could eventually launch other subscription types beyond those first announced. Specifically, it reportedly referenced subscription plans that support Meta’s hardware ambitions, “particularly around Meta glasses.” That matters because it would connect a user subscription to an ecosystem device, potentially deepening customer retention and generating recurring payments tied to hardware features and services.

Meta’s stock action in the report was modest, with shares described as up slightly in overnight trading after ending the regular session down. The backdrop included what the coverage characterized as a third straight day of losses leading into the comment, reinforcing that the subscription narrative is still being weighed against broader investor concerns about growth, spending and engagement trends.

In context, Meta’s subscriptions are part of a broader industry trend in which major consumer internet platforms try to supplement ad revenue with direct payments. The approach can be especially relevant for platforms like Meta that already operate multiple high-frequency apps and can cross-sell features across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. The credibility of any $20 billion-by-2030 estimate, however, depends on how compelling the paid feature set becomes and how consistently Meta can retain subscribers as competition and user expectations evolve.

Still, key details remain unclear. The market report does not spell out which exact features drive conversion, what churn rates look like so far, how many subscribers have signed up to date, or whether Meta AI subscriptions are meeting adoption targets. It also does not provide the methodology behind the Truist subscriber forecasts or sensitivity ranges. Until Meta shares more metrics on sign-ups, active subscriber counts, and revenue contribution, the $20 billion figure should be treated as modeled potential rather than a disclosed company target.