Meta Stock (NASDAQ:META)
After posting what can only be described as a dismal quarterly report and prognosis for the social media behemoth, shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) plummeted as much as 24% on Thursday, falling below $100 a share and hitting their lowest point since 2015.
Meta stock was down 23% at lunchtime, making it the most significant loser in the S&P 500.
The Facebook parent company, META posted earnings on Wednesday that were slightly over revenue predictions but foreshadowed sales difficulties and missed profit forecasts through 2023.
Meta stock was being pummeled on Wall Street, and it was about to fall out of the top 20 U.S. equities, having lost $677 billion in value this year.
To put the decline in context, consider that at the start of the year, Meta (NASDAQ:META) had a market valuation of about $1T, making it the sixth-largest corporation in the United States.
Its value has dropped below $290B, knocking it out of the top 20 and behind corporations like Chevron and Procter & Gamble.
KeyBanc and Morgan Stanley took a pass on the Meta stock after reading the report. It was the first time they had ever downgraded the company for Morgan Stanley.
According to Morgan Stanley’s Brian Nowak, “we normally do not appreciate ‘night-of’ rating adjustments since they may be reactive.” META’s recent earnings and future CAPEX forecast are thesis-shifting, and we expect this to impact the stock for some time.
Fresh as of 10:06 AM EST: Although not all Tech companies are trapped in the downdraft caused by the Meta stock plunge, those in the Internet Content and Information industries have been hit hard. (NASDAQ:GOOG) -2.4%, (NASDAQ:GOOGL) -2%, Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) -3.7%, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) -2%, Snap (NYSE:SNAP) -1.2%, and Chinese media names including Baidu (BIDU) -2.7%, NetEase (NTES) -2.7%, iQiyi (NASDAQ:IQ) -5.2%, and Tencent Music (NYSE:TME) (-1.8%).
Some Thursday morning replies center on dashed hopes of reducing costs. While investor Brad Gerstner has urged the corporation to cap expenditure on the metaverse/Reality Labs division at $5 billion a year, Meta’s earnings call made it apparent that even more investment of billions is coming in 2023. The business stated that overall costs in 2022 would be between $85B and $87B and would increase between $96B and $101B in 2023.
According to Zuckerberg, “the internal signals I’ve seen the show we’re doing leading work and are on the right road with these investments.”
Featured Image- Unsplash @ Mariia Shalabaieva
Author Shariq Khan 
