Wall Street analysts are increasing their confidence in Meta Platforms, the owner of Instagram and WhatsApp, following reports that the company is planning massive layoffs due to rising artificial intelligence costs. The layoffs could affect 20% or more of the company, which employed about 79,000 workers as of Dec. 31. The move is seen as a shift from CEO Mark Zuckerberg's focus on generative AI to an AI-centric organization. Analysts believe that the 20% headcount reduction would reinforce that AI is beginning to deliver real productivity gains at scale, offset significant AI capex ramp. Most analysts maintain their long-term bullish stance on Meta. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Jefferies also highlighted the potential restructuring could yield $7-8bn in annualized savings.