The potential TikTok ban in the U.S. causes Meta shares to surge, reaching a new record alongside Amazon.

• On Friday, ByteDance's U.S. TikTok business was sold, and Meta continued its upward trend, gaining 2.4% and reaching a new record closing price.
• In 2023, the Facebook parent experienced a nearly threefold increase, and as of this year, it has risen by 77%.
• Amazon also closed at a record as did the broader Nasdaq Composite.

On Friday, TikTok's shares continued their extended rally, increasing by 2.4%, and closing at a record high after a federal appeals court upheld a law mandating ByteDance to sell TikTok or face an effective U.S. ban.

Meta's market cap is nearing $1.6 trillion after the Facebook parent's stock price increased by 77% this year, following a nearly three-fold increase in 2023.

The Nasdaq slid slightly from its high on Thursday, but still closed at an all-time high on Friday. The index has gained 32% this year, thanks to the hefty gains among tech's megacaps.

Last week, president-elect Donald Trump hosted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for a dinner, where Zuckerberg showcased the company's camera-equipped Ray Ban specs, according to Fox News. Despite frequent criticism from the incoming president, Zuckerberg appears to be seeking an active role in working with the Trump administration.

Meta faces competition from TikTok, which has gained popularity among younger audiences and has over 170 million users in the U.S. Recently, President Biden signed a law that requires ByteDance to divest the app, or companies such as Apple, Google, and internet hosting providers would have to stop supporting it.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., ruled unanimously against TikTok's argument that the law is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of its users. TikTok announced later that day that it will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

An email from a TikTok spokesperson stated that the Supreme Court has a history of safeguarding Americans' right to free speech and we anticipate they will uphold this right on this crucial constitutional matter.

In late 2022, Meta's rally began and gained momentum in early 2023 after Zuckerberg declared 2023 the "year of efficiency." The company then cut about 21,000 jobs and enhanced its advertising systems with the help of new AI advancements.

Meta reported a 19% increase in year-over-year revenue in its third-quarter earnings release, but also warned of a significant acceleration in infrastructure expenses in 2025. The company had 3.29 billion "daily active people" in the third quarter, up only 5% year over year.

Meta has been investing heavily in developing new AI products and services, which will necessitate spending billions of dollars on graphics processing units and the energy to run them. In addition, the company has been constructing data centers to support its AI strategy.

On Friday, Zuckerberg announced that Meta AI has over 599 million monthly active users and will soon release version 3.3 of its Llama open source large language model. Zuckerberg did not specify how Meta counts a "monthly active" user for its AI technology.

Morgan Stanley analyst claims that Meta is currently in the forefront of efforts to commercialize generative AI.