---
title: "Meta's Muse daily-user growth fell 62% in three weeks and insiders made 172 trades without a buy"
description: "Meta's autonomous agent app is losing downloads and daily-user growth, and a short seller is pressing the point; the insider selling, though scheduled months in advance, has run one way. The stock closed near $719, about 8% under Zuckerberg's sale price and far below the Street's highest target, $1,000 at Wells Fargo."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Money"
published: 2026-10-12T15:27:53.969Z
modified: 2026-10-12T15:27:53.969Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/meta-s-muse-daily-user-growth-fell-62-in-three-weeks-and-insiders-made-172-trades-without-a-buy
language: en
keywords: "Meta Platforms, AI Agents, Insider Trading, Short Selling, Stocks"
---

# Meta's Muse daily-user growth fell 62% in three weeks and insiders made 172 trades without a buy

> Meta's autonomous agent app is losing downloads and daily-user growth, and a short seller is pressing the point; the insider selling, though scheduled months in advance, has run one way. The stock closed near $719, about 8% under Zuckerberg's sale price and far below the Street's highest target, $1,000 at Wells Fargo.

## A five-million-download start, now cooling

[Meta](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/meta) launched Muse, its autonomous AI agent app, on September 8, built to carry out tasks rather than just answer questions [1]. It [drew five million downloads in 22 days](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/meta-muse-app-surpasses-5m-222547868.html), an opening only 23 apps have ever beaten, and topped the US free-app charts [2][3]. By the estimate of Hunterbrook, a short-selling research firm, the run added about $200 billion of market value [3].

Downloads have slowed since. They averaged about 165,000 a day in the seven days to October 7, down 8.1% from roughly 180,000 the week before [1][4]. The October 6 reading, about 170,000, sat 21.1% below the September 24 peak of about 215,000 [3].

## Net new users fell far faster than downloads

User growth cooled faster than downloads: net new daily users fell from about 198,000 a day in the week of September 15 to 87,000 the next week and 74,000 in the week to October 6, a 62.4% drop, while weekly reviews fell 11.6% to 4,716 [1][3]. Daily actives set a record, 2.73 million on October 6, but trailed Threads at the same age, and Threads had launched globally and lost users faster after its debut [3]. Sensor Tower, a second tracker, counts lower levels: 1.8 million daily users on 6.6 million downloads [5].

*Chart: **Muse's net new daily users fell 62% in three weeks** Line chart of Muse's average net new daily users across three consecutive weeks, falling from 198,000 to 87,000 to 74,000 a day*

*Average net new daily users of Meta's Muse app, thousands per day, three consecutive weeks. Source: Benzinga, citing TickerTrends data. [3]*

## An agent with fewer places to act

Hunterbrook [disclosed the Meta short on October 9](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/hunterbrook-discloses-meta-short-position-203820740.html) alongside the data, betting enthusiasm had run ahead of usage [4]. Weeks earlier its investigative arm, then holding no Meta position, reported the agent could be prompted to compile lists of Facebook and Instagram accounts tied to undocumented immigrants, transgender teachers and women who ordered abortion pills [3]. Useful agents need deep access to accounts and personal data, which is where the risk sits [1].

[Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon) said in September it had blocked Muse from shopping for customers, and TickerTrends, the app-data firm whose metrics underpin the short, tracks user reports of restrictions at Costco and [Netflix](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/netflix) as well [3]. Zuckerberg has called Muse "the centerpiece of our vision for what we're building" [3]. An agent shut out of Amazon has a narrower pitch than the one Meta advertised.

## 172 sales, zero buys

Unusual Whales, an insider-trading tracker, counted 172 insider transactions at Meta over six months, none a purchase [6]. Zuckerberg sold $21.4 million of stock on September 24 with shares near $778; Javier Olivan, Meta's chief operating officer, sold about $24 million; chief financial officer Susan Li also sold [6]. EDGAR logs 40 of the filings, [the insider trade disclosures](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001326801&type=4&dateb=&owner=only&count=40), between June 17 and October 7 [7].

The filings cut both ways: the sales ran under Rule 10b5-1 plans set months in advance, some entries were tax withholding, and one filing states it "does not represent a sale" [6]. A preset plan explains the selling; nothing in the filings explains why no insider has bought. The stock closed Friday near $719, about 8% under Zuckerberg's sale price [6].

## A $1,000 target that waits on 2027

Wells Fargo [raised its Meta target to $1,000 from $796](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/06/viral-ai-agent-muse-boon-for-meta-stock-soar-higher-wells-fargo.html) on October 6, tied for the highest on the Street, and 56 of 63 analysts rate the stock a buy or strong buy [8]. Analyst Ken Gawrelski expects earnings per share to bottom in 2027, a spending cycle he compares to Reels in 2022 though "potentially much larger," with little Muse revenue before then [8].

[The June-quarter accounts](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001326801) show the bill: total costs up 55% to $42.03 billion, operating margin down to 31% from 43%, free cash flow at $784 million after lease payments and $1.7 billion before them, as the chart shows [9][10]. Buybacks ran at zero, long-term debt reached $83.66 billion, and the consensus price target sits at $794.96 [9].

*Chart: **Meta closed below every reference price, from the Street's high target to Zuckerberg's sale** Bar chart of four Meta share-price references: Wells Fargo's $1,000 target, the $794.96 consensus target, $778 where Zuckerberg sold, and $719 Friday close*

*US dollars per share: Wells Fargo's target set October 6, the consensus analyst price target, the average price of Zuckerberg's $21.4 million September 24 sale, and Friday's close. Sources: CNBC; FinanceBuzz; Yahoo Finance/BeInCrypto. [8][9][6]*

*Chart: **Free cash flow fell to $1.7B last quarter as capex hit $30.1B** Line chart of Meta quarterly capital expenditure and free cash flow, Q3 2023 through Q2 2026, showing capex climbing to $30.1 billion as free cash flow falls to $1.7 billion*

*Quarterly capital expenditure and free cash flow, US$ billions, Q3 2023 to Q2 2026; free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capex, before finance-lease payments. Source: Meta SEC filings. [10]*

## Q3 is the verdict on Muse engagement

Meta's third-quarter report lands against [a 2026 capex guide of $130 billion to $145 billion](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/wells-fargo-sets-new-target-on-meta-amid-55-cost-surge-3-conditions-investors-should-watch-before-acting/ar-AA2dX3Dx) and revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion [9]. Downloads measure curiosity and daily actives measure habit [1]. Both are slowing, and the habit measure, net daily additions, is slowing far faster; Q3 will show whether that is a launch lull or the product's shape [3][4].

## Takeaway

Muse's net new daily users fell 62% in three weeks while downloads slid, and 172 insider trades in six months went one way, with no buyer among them; Q3 results and the 2027 earnings trough are the real tests for the $1,000 target.

## Sources

1. [Crypto Briefing, Meta's Muse AI app loses momentum as downloads slip 8.1%, 11 October 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/meta-muse-downloads-fall-ai-agent/)
2. [Yahoo Finance / Social Media Today, Meta's Muse app surpasses 5M downloads and 3M weekly users, 1 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/meta-muse-app-surpasses-5m-222547868.html)
3. [Benzinga, Meta Muse downloads are slowing and Hunterbrook is short, 9 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/meta-muse-downloads-are-slowing-and-hunterbrook-is-short/ar-AA2dUYzw)
4. [Yahoo Finance / Investing.com, Hunterbrook discloses Meta short position as alternative data signals Muse cooling, 9 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/hunterbrook-discloses-meta-short-position-203820740.html)
5. [Crypto Briefing, Meta's Muse AI agent posts strong early numbers as investors demand proof, 12 October 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/meta-muse-ai-agent-early-data/)
6. [Yahoo Finance / BeInCrypto, Meta Stock Warning? Zuckerberg Sells $21 Million as Insiders Exit, 11 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/meta-stock-warning-zuckerberg-sells-141351205.html)
7. [SEC EDGAR, Meta Platforms Form 4 insider filings list, retrieved 12 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001326801&type=4&dateb=&owner=only&count=40)
8. [CNBC, Muse has been a boon for Meta. It can soar much higher, Wells Fargo says, 6 October 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/06/viral-ai-agent-muse-boon-for-meta-stock-soar-higher-wells-fargo.html)
9. [FinanceBuzz, Wells Fargo sets new target on Meta amid 55% cost surge, 10 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/wells-fargo-sets-new-target-on-meta-amid-55-cost-surge-3-conditions-investors-should-watch-before-acting/ar-AA2dX3Dx)
10. [Meta Platforms, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 12 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001326801)


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Meta's Muse daily-user growth fell 62% in three weeks and insiders made 172 trades without a buy — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/meta-s-muse-daily-user-growth-fell-62-in-three-weeks-and-insiders-made-172-trades-without-a-buy