Meta's Muse AI Agent Boosts Meta Shares While Pressuring Financial Stocks

Meta's Muse, an AI-powered personal assistant that can handle tasks such as shopping, travel booking and form-filling, climbed to the top of the free-app charts on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play in the United States and Canada. Within two weeks of its launch the app logged 2.8 million downloads, with daily download growth averaging 55 percent during its first ten days, according to market-intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

Investors expressed concern that Muse’s ability to compare prices could make it easier for consumers to switch to lower-cost alternatives, potentially weakening brand loyalty for established providers. The apprehension weighed on financial-sector stocks, which fell after the app’s debut, while Meta’s shares rose nearly 13 percent for a fifth consecutive week.

"Meta has really found lightning in a bottle here and someone who partners with Muse is likely to be a clear beneficiary off the bat to me," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading.

Analysts at Truist Securities project the app could generate at least $28.5 billion in annual revenue by fiscal 2030. Private-sector partners such as Stripe and Ticketmaster have also signed deals with Meta.

The rollout may also increase demand for AI compute resources, benefiting chip manufacturers and other AI-infrastructure firms.

"If you're going to trust the management of your finances to something that Muse found for you, then you were likely not a big payer to anyone in that industry to begin with. There's a whole lot more that goes in asset management than who's got the cheapest price," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist for B. Riley Wealth.