Citi Analyst Values Instagram At $35 Billion

In April 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion. In case you haven’t been paying attention to the latter site’s explosive growth, a financial analyst has provided some numbers that prove the ten-digit purchase was an absolute steal. According to Mark May

of Citi, Instagram is now worth $35 billion.

May’s estimate is based off Instagram’s future earnings potential, which is driven by its “monetized” audience. The social media site, which recently announced it has surpassed 300 million users, launched advertising in 2013, the same year in began allowing users to post short videos to their followers. A year later, advertising extended to those videos as well, further increasing Instagram’s profitability.

These recent improvements have certainly helped Instagram keep its users happy. According to Business Insider, Instagram doesn’t just have more users than Twitter–those users are also 1.8 times more engaged.

Whether Instagram hits May’s estimate or not, Facebook’s purchase is shaping up to be a valuable one–no filters necessary.