META
The short-bet playbook
Hunterbrook Capital has taken a short position in Meta after arguing that the early Muse AI-agent hype is outrunning the actual usage numbers. The firm disclosed the bet Friday, pairing it with a Hunterbrook Media report built on alternative data from TickerTrends.
The numbers are still growing… just less dramatically
On the surface, Muse is still expanding. TickerTrends said worldwide daily active users hit about 2.73 million on Oct. 6, a fresh high. But the pace is the problem: average daily downloads slipped to roughly 165,000 in the latest seven days, down from about 180,000 the week before, while growth in net users slowed sharply from the initial launch burst.
That matters because Meta’s AI story has been doing a lot of heavy lifting for the stock. The company’s Muse rollout helped lift Meta’s market value by roughly $200 billion, so even a whiff of a slowdown can make investors squint at the scoreboard.
When the vibes cool off
Hunterbrook also pointed to another classic warning sign: fewer reviews and more friction. TickerTrends counted 4,716 Android and iOS reviews over the last week, down 11.6% from the prior week, and noted that some major sites are limiting what Muse can do. Amazon has already said it blocked Muse from shopping for customers.
Big picture: Meta doesn’t need every shiny AI toy to become the next app-store darling. But if Muse is supposed to be the centerpiece of Zuckerberg’s AI vision, then slower adoption is the kind of thing that can turn a victory lap into an awkward jog.