Meta, formerly Facebook, faces historic drop as stock tanks
New York, Feb 3: Shares in Facebook parent company Meta are in the midst of their worst day ever Thursday after the social media giant reported a rare decline in profit due to a sharp increase in expenses as it invests heavily in its transformation into a virtual reality-based company.
Meta's shares fell more than 23% to 246.76 in early trading Thursday, lopping off more than 215 billion of the company's overall value, known as its market capitalisation. A drop that big would be the largest ever for a company on a single day. Facebook's market cap dropped 120 billion on July 26, 2018.
The Menlo Park, California, based company said Wednesday that profit declined 8% to 10.29 billion in the final three months of 2021. Revenue rose to 20% to 33.67 billion.
The decline could partly be tied to Meta's spending on its Reality Labs segment which includes its virtual reality headsets and augmented reality technology. Meta invested more than 10 billion in the segment in 2021.
In addition, recent privacy changes by Apple make it harder for companies like Meta to track people for advertising purposes, which also puts pressure on the company's revenue.
On a conference call with analysts Wednesday, Meta's chief financial officer said the company faces a 10 billion headwind from Apple's changes in 2022. Analysts at MoffettNathanson, in a note to clients, called the estimate stunning.
Meta also forecast revenue well below analysts' expectations for the current quarter, due in part to growing competition from TikTok, the company said.
Meta Platforms Inc took on its new name last fall to emphasize CEO Mark Zuckerberg's focus on the metaverse. Since then, the company has been shifting resources and hiring engineers including from competitors like Apple and Google who can help realise his vision. It expanded its workforce by 23%, ending the year with 71,970 employees, mostly in technical roles.
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Rain interrupts Mumbai Indians' chase against Lucknow Super Giants
Mumbai, May 17: Rain interrupted play in the second innings here on Friday with Mumbai Indians reaching 33 for no loss in 3.5 overs while chasing 215 against Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL clash.
Rohit Sharma, who is playing this final contest for Mumbai Indians this season as an impact substitute, was the enforcer with two consecutive sixes off Matt Henry to reach 20 not out off 13 balls with one four.
At the other end was Dewald Brevis batting on nine after replacing out of sorts Ishan Kishan as opener.
Mumbai needed another 182 runs to win off 97 balls when the play was halted.
It began with a heavy shower forcing players off the field and groundstaff to bring four layers of sheets, but subsided into steady drizzle.
Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants posted a daunting 214/6 as they recovered well to add 145 runs in the final 10 overs of the innings.
Nicholas Pooran blasted eight sixes and five fours to make 75 off a mere 29 balls whereas skipper KL Rahul, who struggled with the other top order LSG batters in the first half, made 55 off 41 balls with three fours and as many sixes.
