By *Michael Teich* While regulators and the media have been criticizing Facebook for its handling of data privacy, Wall Street continues to push the stock higher. Research firm BTIG placed a $275 price target on Facebook Thursday morning, almost 60 percent higher than its previous target of $175. (On Thursday, Facebook shares were trading at $197, near it's 52-week high of $203.55.) In a note to clients, analyst Rich Greenfield stressed that the social media giant is shrugging off regulatory pressure because Facebook remains "a must-have utility for staying connected to the entire world." Greenfield also points to the power of Instagram as a key driver for Facebook's growth, calling the social media application an "absolute monster." Instagram's enormous user base, which consists of over 1 billion daily active users, combined with its unique ability to produce advertisements that double as enjoyable content within users' feeds, the company in position to become the "most powerful and valuable mall in the world," said Greenfield. Unlike the countless companies that find themselves at the mercy of Amazon's next move, Greenfield told Cheddar in an interview Thursday that he does not believe Instagram is vulnerable to competition from Amazon in the e-commerce space. “There’s more than enough room for multiple players to win,” said Greenfield. "I look at them less as competitors than both of them taking tremendous share from legacy retailers.” For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-upside-in-facebook-stock)
