SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 3 ― Facebook’s parent firm Meta delivered unsteady results yesterday, with threats to its key ad business, big expenses on its metaverse vision and a weaker forecast that plunged shares some 20 per cent in after-hours trading.
The signature Facebook platform, instead of growing, lost roughly one million daily users globally in the last quarter of 2021, according to the earnings report. Above all, the company warned that the rules imposed by Apple last year on ad targeting could have a negative impact on its financial results in the fourth quarter.
The Silicon Valley giant’s whistleblower crisis last year highlighted accusations that executives prioritised growth over keeping their billions of users safe. “Facebook appears to now be feeling the impact on ad revenues from Apple’s new privacy first approach,” the group’s statement said.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sought to highlight positives in the results.