META Stock Rises Premarket: Zuckerberg Says Threads Is ‘Either Bigger Than X’ Or Close In Scale

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says Threads is now bigger as X, but he still uses X to connect with AI communities.

• Zuckerberg said Meta posts across both Threads and X to reach different audiences. 
• He believes Threads is nearing or may have surpassed X in size, while X remains valuable for engaging AI and tech communities. 
• Threads has reached 500 million monthly users, putting it halfway toward Zuckerberg’s 1 billion goal. 

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Threads’ 500 million monthly active users put his three-year-old app roughly on par with Elon Musk's X. Despite Threads’ rapid growth, Zuckerberg said he continues posting on X to connect with technology and AI communities that remain active there. 

Meta Platforms stock edged 0.7% higher in Wednesday’s premarket.

Zuckerberg Says Threads Is Closing In On X 

Speaking in Alex Heath’s Sources podcast, Zuckerberg said Meta’s social media strategy is less about choosing one platform and more about communicating with audiences wherever they spend time, explaining his activity on the X platform, despite Meta running an exclusive social media app. 

“I mean, obviously Threads is doing great, and I think it's actually either bigger than X at this point or it's like very soon about to be.”

However, he noted that the two services attract different groups of users, making it worthwhile for him to maintain a presence on both. X remains particularly relevant to people working in artificial intelligence and the broader technology industry, Zuckerberg said. That audience gives Meta a reason to keep engaging on the platform rather than abandoning it altogether.

“To some degree, some of the community is on X, and we want to be able to engage where people are.”

Meta’s Instagram Strategy Fuels Threads Growth 

Meta announced the 500 million monthly active user figure in a June 16 blog post tied to new Threads features, including expanded "communities" tools and a personalization setting called "Your Algo." 

The 500 million-user mark puts Threads halfway to the 1 billion-user target Zuckerberg set when he launched the app in July 2023 as a direct response to Musk's X (formerly Twitter) takeover. It's also the clearest sign yet that Meta's cross-promotion strategy of funneling Instagram's roughly 3 billion users toward Threads is paying off against a rival that no longer discloses its own user metrics publicly. 

Zuckerberg’s claim comes amid a broader Meta-Musk rivalry that has spilled well beyond social media, following xAI's 2025 acquisition of X and SpaceX's subsequent acquisition of xAI this year.

On Tuesday, Meta launched Muse, a private AI agent that can handle tasks, work in the background and remember user preferences. Available through its app and WhatsApp, it can send emails, book travel, fill forms and make purchases, with Stripe’s Link providing secure payments and purchase protections.

META Stock: Retail View 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock remained in ‘Bearish’ territory. 

META stock has declined 7% year-to-date. 

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