Firing on all cylinders. That's one way to describe Meta Platforms (META +0.22%) stock over the last 12 months with its 181% return.
Indeed, you'll be hard-pressed to find many stocks that have outperformed the social media giant as the company's market cap has increased by an astounding $783 billion during its recent rally.
At any rate, many investors are likely asking themselves: Is it now too late to buy Meta Platforms?
I think there's still time. Here's why.
Meta Platforms is a dominant force in digital advertising
If there's one reason to own Meta Platforms stock, it's this: The company is one of two key players in an enormous and fast-growing industry -- the digital advertising market.
In brief, this market is dominated by two large companies: Alphabet and Meta Platforms. Alphabet's signature product, Google Search, generated about $175 billion in revenue in 2023, thanks to sponsored ad placements within search results. Meta Platforms, on the other hand, generated $132 billion in advertising revenue, split across its family of applications that includes Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp.
But what's truly impressive about Meta Platforms' ad revenue is how quickly it has grown. As you can see in the chart below, ad revenue has nearly doubled since 2019. Indeed, over the last 14 years, Meta's ad revenue has grown at a compound annual rate of 44%.
Image source: Statista
Best of all for investors, the digital ad market shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, some analysts expect the total market to approach $1 trillion by 2028 -- up from $740 billion today.
If Meta Platforms can maintain its significant market share, chances are this internet giant will grow even larger -- rewarding both old and new shareholders in the process.
