Meta (Formerly Facebook) Shares Plummet 20% During After-Hours Trading
Feb 3, 2022 By MarketDepth
Facebook parent Meta (NASDAQ: FB) shares plummeted over 20% during after-hours trading Wednesday after it missed earnings expectations, disclosed weak guidance and revealed that user growth had faltered. Furthermore, the company expects revenue growth to curb as users spend less time on its more profitable services. The stock is on track for its biggest one-day drop, following the 19% dip it experienced in July of 2018.
“Although our direction is clear, it seems that our path ahead is not quite perfectly defined.”
Mr. Zuckerberg told investors during a conference call Wednesday
The multinational technology conglomerate reported earnings of USD3.67 per share, compared to the expected USD3.84 a share. Revenue amounted to USD33.67 Billion, higher than analysts anticipated USD33.4 Billion, according to Refinitiv. The company’s daily active users totalled 1.93 Billion, lower than analysts forecast of 1.95 Billion. Additionally, Meta’s Q1 2022 revenue guidance also fell short, as it estimated between USD27 Billion to USD29 Billion, meanwhile analysts were estimating sales of USD30.15 Billion.
Several Setbacks
According to the company it is facing several setbacks, such as privacy changes to Apple’s iOS and macroeconomic challenges. It also attributed its stagnant growth partly to inflation as well as supply chain delays which have continuously affected advertisers’ budgets.
Shifting Viewer Culture
The company’s users have also shifted towards products that don’t produce as much revenue, like its Reels videos.
Increased Competition
“On the side of the impressions, we expect continued headwinds from both increased competition for people’s time and a shift of engagement within our apps towards video surfaces like Reels, which monetize at lower rates than Feed and Stories,” Facebook said.
