[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Meta, the parent company of Facebook, saw its stock price plunge about 20% on the 2nd (local time) after releasing last year's earnings and this year's outlook that fell short of market expectations.
According to CNBC and other outlets, Meta announced after the New York Stock Exchange closed that its Q4 revenue last year was $33.67 billion (approximately 40.7 trillion KRW), and earnings per share were $3.67. This fell short of market estimates of $33.4 billion and $3.84 per share. Daily active users and monthly active users were also 20 million and 40 million fewer than market expectations, respectively.
Meta also issued a lower-than-expected forecast for Q1 this year. It estimated Q1 revenue to be between $27 billion and $29 billion, which is below the Wall Street analyst consensus of $30.15 billion compiled by financial information firm Refinitiv.
This earnings announcement was the first since Facebook's parent company changed its name to Meta in October last year. Meta stated that the growth in earnings is expected to slow somewhat as users reduce the frequency of using profitable services and recent inflation increases affect advertisers' spending.
Meta's stock price dropped vertically after the earnings release, plummeting more than 20% in after-hours trading. CNBC reported, "Facebook's stock plunged as it released disappointing Q4 earnings along with a revenue forecast that was lower than expected."
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