- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Bosnia floods kill 14 people
- Tennis world number one Swiatek splits with coach Wiktorowski
- Liverpool share responsibility for Nunez goal drought, says Slot
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight
How Facebook slipped -- in key points
Facebook-parent Meta saw investors flee on Thursday rather than buckle-up for what could be a long ride towards the firm's metaverse vision for the internet's future.
While the tech titan has previously seen shares climb despite fines, regulatory threats, misinformation woes and harassment troubles -- this time they plummeted in what one analyst called "a perfect storm."
Here are key factors shaking confidence in the social media giant:
- TikTok to Telegram -
Facebook growth that had been on a seemingly perpetual upward trend slipped at the end of last year, with the number of people using the social network daily declining.
Meta executives warned of increased competition, particularly from video star TikTok as well as messaging services such as Telegram and Slack.
The firm is making a priority of investing in its Reels short-form video feature as well as apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram to stay in tune with users.
That means spending big on services that are harder to make money from than the Facebook social network with its digital ad machine.
- Apple bite -
Meta executives told analysts that Facebook's ad-targeting efficiency is being undermined by a change Apple implemented to the software running iPhones.
In the update of iOS, Apple required application publishers to ask permission before collecting data, much to the regret of companies like Meta that rely on it for ad targeting.
As iPhone users opt out of sharing data for targeting ads in Facebook apps, marketing messages become less precisely targeted and thus less profitable.
"We believe the impact of iOS, overall, as a headwind on our business in 2022 is on the order of $10 billion," Meta chief financial officer David Wehner said on an earnings call.
"So, that is a pretty significant headwind for our business."
Advertising at Meta also suffered with the broader market, as businesses curtailed budgets in the face of supply troubles, labor turnover, and pandemic woes.
Meta is facing a "perfect storm" countering growth, according to Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian.
"Our concerns about the near-term growth outlook for Meta were not only realized, but worse than we thought," Sebastian said in a note to investors.
- Bet on the metaverse -
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg portrays the metaverse as the future of life on the internet. In that spirit, the tech company changed its name to "Meta."
Making the immersive online world of the metaverse is expected to take many years and cost many billions.
A "Reality Labs" unit at Meta devoted to technology for intermixing actual and virtual worlds reported a loss of $10 billion last year, according to an earnings release.
Major investors in the stock market are notoriously averse to waiting a long time for big returns, tending to trade shares based on potential for quick gains.
- Regulatory crosshairs -
As Meta looks to make a "transformation" to better compete with the likes of TikTok, a hit with younger users, regulators in the United States and elsewhere have vowed to curb its power.
A federal judge in January ruled that US regulators' re-worked anti-trust case against Facebook can go ahead, saying the complaint was more robust and detailed than the version denied in 2021.
The US Federal Trade Commission has alleged Meta holds an illegal monopoly by acquiring potential competitors that it now owns like Instagram and WhatsApp.
The lawsuit, which could take years to go through the courts without a settlement, called for the "divestiture of assets," including WhatsApp and Instagram, to restore competition.
G.M.Castelo--PC