Meta (FB), the parent company of Facebook, saw its stock 27% on Thursday as the firm anticipated lower-than-expected revenue growth in the coming quarter.
Apple's privacy policies are having a significant impact on it and Facebook recorded its first quarterly fall in daily active users on record…
The decline on Thursday cut over $250 billion off its market capitalization, the biggest single-day drop in value in US stock market history.
According to Refinitiv, the company missed earnings projections for the fourth quarter – coming in at $3.67 vs the $3.84 analysts' expected. However, revenue for the quarter was more than expected – $33.67 billion vs $33.4 billion.
Nonetheless, its first-quarter revenue prediction of $27 billion to $29 billion fell short of the expected $30.15 billion.
But more importantly, Facebook experienced its first ever daily active user loss.
The number of daily active users fell from 1.93 billion in the third quarter of 2021 to 1.929 billion in the 4th quarter.
Meta noted that Apple's iPhone privacy improvements, which affect ad targeting and measurement, are expected to cost the business $10 billion this year.
Advertiser budgets are also being weighed down by macroeconomic difficulties such as inflation and supply chain interruptions, according to the company's report.
On Thursday, JPMorgan analysts downgraded the stock from overweight to neutral, and their price target was slashed from $385 to $284. While beginning on an expensive, uncertain, multi-year transition to the Metaverse, Meta is facing a major slowdown in advertising growth – they argued.
Facebook is also investing more aggressively on products like Reels on Instagram. While they produce less revenue in the short term, they have extremely large growth potential.
In the quarter, the company's main social media business generated $32.79 billion in sales and $15.89 billion in operating profits after all…
For the first time, Meta separated its Reality Labs sector – which includes its future-focused business that aspires to establish the metaverse.
In Q4, the sector generated $877 million in revenue while incurring a $3.3 billion operating deficit. Last year, the division lost $10 billion in total. And its losses are increasing as it invests on the metaverse… So, this is definitely something all FB investors should keep an eye on going forward.
Following Facebook's drop, other social media stocks were down on Thursday. Snapchat's stock dropped 20%, Pinterest shares were down 8%, and Twitter fell 5%.
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