প্রকাশ: 03/02/2022
Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc's shares plunged more than
20% late on Wednesday after the social media company posted a
weaker-than-expected forecast, blaming Apple's privacy changes and increased
competition for users from rivals like TikTok.
Facebook's global daily active users declined from the
previous quarter for the first time, to 1.929 billion from 1.930 billion.
Meta said it faced hits from Apple Inc's privacy changes to
its operating system, which have made it harder for brands to target and
measure their ads on Facebook and Instagram. It also cited macroeconomic issues
like supply-chain disruptions.
The 18-year-old tech giant, which also faces pressure from
platforms like TikTok and Google's YouTube, said it expected slowing revenue
growth in the coming quarter due to increased competition for users' time and a
shift of engagement toward such features as its short video offering Reels,
which generate less revenue.
Facebook reported 2.91 billion monthly active users in the
fourth quarter, showing no growth compared with the previous quarter.
The after-hours slump in Meta shares vaporized $200 billion
of its market value, while peers Twitter Inc, Snap Inc and Pinterest Inc lost
another $15 billion in value.
Shares of Alphabet Inc, which posted record quarterly sales
that topped expectations on Tuesday, were down nearly 2%. read more
Meta, owner of the second-largest digital ad platform in the
world after Google, had previously warned its advertising business faced
"significant uncertainty" in the fourth quarter. read more
Meta's chief financial officer, Dave Wehner, told analysts
on a conference call that the impact of Apple's privacy changes could be
"in the order of $10 billion" for 2022.
Apple's changes to its operating software give users the
choice to prevent apps from tracking their online activity for ads, making it
harder for advertisers that rely on data to develop new products and know their
market.
Meta forecast first-quarter revenue in the range of $27
billion to $29 billion. Analysts were expecting $30.15 billion, according to IBES
data from Refinitiv.
"It's clear that there are many big roadblocks ahead as
Meta faces tough new competition for ad revenue such as TikTok, and as it
contends with ongoing ad targeting and measurement challenges from Apple's iOS
changes," said Insider Intelligence analyst Debra Aho Williamson.
The company's total revenue, the bulk of which comes from ad
sales, rose to $33.67 billion in the fourth quarter from $28.07 billion a year
earlier, beating analysts' estimates of $33.40 billion, according to IBES data
from Refinitiv.
"I'm encouraged by the progress we made this past year
in a number of important growth areas like Reels, commerce, and virtual
reality, and we'll continue investing in these and other key priorities in 2022
as we work towards building the metaverse," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in
the earnings release.
In Meta's earnings call, he said competition for users was
one factor impacting the business, mentioning short video app TikTok by name
and emphasizing Meta's commitment to providing services for young adults.
Net loss from Meta's Reality Labs, the company's augmented
and virtual reality business, was $10.2 billion for the full year 2021,
compared with a $6.6 billion loss the previous year. It was the first time the
company had broken out this segment in its results.
Zuckerberg had previously warned that the company's
investment in this area would reduce 2021 operating profit by $10 billion and
would not be profitable "any time in the near future."
Reality Labs posted revenue of about $2.3 billion in 2021.
The company has not made public the sales numbers for its virtual reality Quest
headsets.
The company said on Wednesday it would this year change its
stock ticker to "META," the latest step in its rebrand to focus on
the metaverse, a futuristic idea of virtual environments where users can work,
socialize and play. Meta did not comment on the price of a deal with Roundhill
Investments, which said in January it would stop using the symbol for its
Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF.
The tech giant, which changed its name in October to reflect
its metaverse aims, is betting the metaverse will be the successor to the
mobile internet.
"Investors looking at Meta are starting to realize that
buying their stock is no longer mostly an investment into their ad
platform," said Flynn Zaiger, CEO of social media agency Online Optimism.
"Investing in Meta now looks more like a commitment that you believe that
the metaverse will replace much of the internet consumers' experience today."
Meta's rebrand comes at a time of increasing scrutiny from
lawmakers and regulators over allegations of anticompetitive conduct and over
the impacts of how it handles harmful or misleading content across its Facebook
and Instagram platforms.
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