Are you ready for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock to hit the $500 mark? Hold on and be patient, as the stock won’t get there tomorrow or next week. The big returns will come in time, as Meta Platforms has its share of challenges but also plenty of growth opportunities.

Heck, there might even be a major share-price pullback in the works, but that’s not a problem. Meta Platforms has defeated the critics and short sellers before, and the company’s current issues should be temporary and surmountable.

Meta Platforms Encounters Pushback Abroad

So, let’s not try to hide the challenges that Meta Platforms is currently facing. In more than one region of the world, there are regulators who aren’t particularly fond of Meta Platforms.

I’ll give you three examples right now. First, according to Reuters, authorities in Norway are fining Meta Platforms 1 million crowns (equivalent to $94,313) per day “for harvesting user data and using it to target advertising at them.”

Second, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly accused Meta Platforms’ Facebook of putting “corporate profits ahead of people’s safety.” This occurred after Facebook allegedly blocked certain Canada-focused news content pertaining to wildfires.

In addition, the Associated Press reported that Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, Thailand’s minister of Digital Economy and Society, threatened to “to try to shut down Facebook in the country.” Apparently, Thanakamanusorn is alleging that Facebook leaves its users vulnerable to scams because the platform doesn’t do enough to screen its advertisements.

META Stock Is Still a Great AI Play

These international regulatory roadblocks might be deal-breakers for some prospective investors. I understand these concerns, but Meta Platforms has courted controversy before and still posted outstanding financial results.

To stay fully informed, financial traders should take note of Meta Platforms’ less pleasant developments. This doesn’t mean that they need to exit their share positions, though. As long as Meta Platforms stays at the forefront of social media technology and can generate revenue from this, it’s still a highly investable company.

Speaking of social media tech, Meta Platforms recently launched the web version of Threads, its rival to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. This is a major step forward, as not everyone (believe it or not) accesses social media from their smartphone.

And, of course, you can’t talk about Meta Platforms in 2023 without mentioning artificial intelligence (AI) at least once. As Reuters reported not long ago, Meta Platforms “released an AI model capable of translating and transcribing speech in dozens of languages.” As I see it, it’s easy to envision this AI model, called SeamlessM4T, having a broad variety of translation/transcription use cases.

META Stock: Stay in the Trade and Don’t Look Back

There’s no denying that Meta Platforms has some issues to deal with. Yet, the company has dealt with challenges in the past. Still, it’s worthwhile to keep tabs on Meta Platforms’ regulatory developments to see how they resolve.

Meanwhile, Meta Platforms continues to generate revenue from next-generation social media and AI technology. Therefore, investors shouldn’t let Meta Platforms’ problems abroad be a deal-breaker.

Personally, I still have a $500 price target for META stock. That might sound ambitious, I’ll admit. If you’re willing to ride out the bumps along the way, however, then an investment in Meta Platforms shares could yield excellent long-term results.

On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.