Instagram is expected to pull in $5.8 billion in revenue in 2020

Instagram has already proven itself to be a smart acquisition on Facebook’s part but the investment continues to look better each year. In fact, the photo-sharing network is expected to generate $5.8 billion in revenue in 2020 which is significantly more than the already impressive sum of $700 million that it’s expected to earn this year. Instagram’s user base is also expected to more than double in this time. 

Facebook’s decision to buy Instagram looks smarter and smarter each year. Instagram, the fast-growing photo-sharing network, is projected to generate about $700 million in revenue this year and $5.8 billion in revenue in 2020, according to new estimates from analysts with Cowen & Co. That surge in sales, according to the report, is based on Cowen’s surveys of user and advertiser interest as well as projections for Instagram’s user numbers to more than double to 680 million by 2020 and for larger advertisers to follow. “Given the user scale, adv. interest, shifting TV ad spend to Digital and FB’s monetization capabilities, we are more confident in our Instagram revenue ramp from $0.7BN in ’15 to $5.8BN in ’20,” the analysts wrote in the report, a copy of which was provided to Mashable.