Facebook (Meta) shares sink 12% further as daily user decrease

Per Second NewsFebruary 8, 20221 Mins read1.1k

Meta shares slumped 12.18 per cent extending losses for the third day after its record plunge last week, Per Second News gathered.

The company formerly known as Facebook, plunge on Monday, continuing the declines triggered last week by weaker-than-expected earnings and mounting concerns over data privacy.

The company’s shares are down 34 per cent since that start of the year. The decline has been fuelled by concerns including privacy changes to Apple products that makes it harder for advertisers to see how their ads work on Facebook.

Meta, which owns social media giant Facebook and Instagram, is facing a myriad of challenges. It is in the middle of a number of regulatory fights and looking to justify its strategic shift to bet on an immersive internet known as the metaverse.

In a report published on Thursday, the company again threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from Europe if it is unable to keep transferring user data back to the US amid negotiations between regulators to replace a scrapped privacy pact.

EU regulators have for months been stuck in negotiations with the US to replace a transatlantic data transfer pact that thousands of companies relied on. It was struck down by the EU Court of Justice in 2020 over fears citizens’ data is not safe once shipped to the US.

Responding to threats from Meta to quit Europe, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told a media event on Monday that life in Europe is fine without Facebook.

“After being hacked I’ve lived without Facebook and Twitter for four years and life has been fantastic,” Mr Habeck said.

The disappointing earnings last week have added to the company’s challenges. Data showed it had lost daily active users for the first time in its 18-year history as its net profit dropped more than 8 per cent annually in the fourth quarter to $10.2 billion.

The results, which point to stagnant growth, trigged the biggest ever single-day market value wipeout for a US company on February 4, with the company’s stock plummeting 26 per cent, erasing more than $200bn in value.