What companies could Meta buy in the future?
Meta Platforms has made more than 100 acquisitions over the years. Most of these acquisitions have been to buy talent, not products or companies. It will buy start-ups to bring their founders into the Meta family.
However, Meta will make product acquisitions when it finds a compelling opportunity. Notable ones include its purchases of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus VR.
The company certainly has the financial firepower to continue making big deals. It ended the first quarter of 2025 with $70.2 billion of cash against $28.8 billion of debt. Meanwhile, it has become a cash-generating machine. It produced $10.3 billion in free cash flow during the first quarter of 2025, giving the social media giant the money to repurchase shares and pay dividends.
The company could expand its family of apps by acquiring rival social media platforms. For example, while it has launched competitors to TikTok (Reels) and X (Threads), they haven't been as successful as those rivals (TikTok can potentially reach 1.8 billion adults over 18 each month while X has the potential advertising reach of 563 million). Meta could seek to acquire those rival apps if they become available. For example, the U.S. government wants TikTok's Chinese owner to sell its U.S. operations or face a shutdown. Meta would likely be interested in buying the app if it was for sale. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who currently owns X, said he would be willing to sell the app to the right person. Although that's likely not Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, it's not outside the realm of possibility that Meta would be interested in buying the platform.
Other potential social media app acquisition targets Meta might consider are Snap (SNAP -0.33%), a camera-focused technology communications company, and Pinterest (PINS -0.74%), a visual discovery company. Snap is the ninth-largest social media platform, with 850 million monthly active users, while Pinterest clocks in at No. 15 with 553 million. Buying either company would enable Meta to expand its family of apps. Its expertise in monetizing social apps could enable it to maximize the profitability of a company like Snap or Pinterest.
