Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) shares are trading higher Wednesday after the U.S. Senate passed a bill under which ByteDance would need to divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.
What Happened: Late Tuesday, Congress passed new legislation to ban or force a sale of popular social media platform TikTok, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The Senate approved the bill 79 to 18 as part of an aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The House already approved the bill over the weekend, so the proposal is now headed to President Joe Biden’s desk, who is expected to sign it this week.
Once the bill is signed, parent company ByteDance, which has been scrutinized for potential connections to the Chinese Communist Party, will have approximately nine months to sell TikTok. If the company fails to divest the popular app within that time, it will face a national ban.
The lawmakers who are pushing hard to implement restrictions on TikTok have cited concerns that ByteDance ownership may allow the Chinese government to access American user data.
From Last Month: ‘Enemy Of The People’: Trump Slams Meta Stock As TikTok Ban Faces Scrutiny
Meta Platforms is due to report first-quarter financial results after the market close on Wednesday. The company is expected to report earnings of $4.32 per share on revenue of $36.156 billion, according to estimates from Benzinga Pro.
Last quarter, Meta delivered an upside surprise when it reported better-than-expected results, initiated a quarterly dividend and announced a $50 billion increase to its buyback program.
Meta said it focused on increasing its operating discipline, delivering strong execution and improving advertising performance in 2023. In 2024, the company said it plans to build on its progress in each of those areas while advancing longer-term ambitions in AI and Reality Labs.
META Price Action: Meta shares were up 2.86% at $510.31 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.
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