Facebook parent Meta shares in continuing €200bn wipeout

It follows whistleblower Frances Haugen’s revelations and disappointing quarterly results.

Shares in Facebook parent Meta Platforms dropped on Friday, with shares set to a enter bear market after months of volatility triggered by a whistle-blower’s revelations and disappointing quarterly results.

The selloff is about 20% since its closing record on September 7, erasing nearly $230bn (€200bn) in market value. 

Meta’s stock has been pressured this week as investors grappled with uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant and the possibility that the US central bank will end its pandemic support programme sooner than expected. It fell as much by more than 2% at one stage on Friday.

Meta shares have been hurt in recent months by negative comments about Facebook’s business model from whistleblower Frances Haugen, according to David Trainer, who covers Meta for investment research firm New Constructs. Ms Haugen appeared before the US House subcommittee on technology earlier this week, after accusing the social media giant of putting “profit over safety” of its users in October.

Mounting concerns about the impact of Apple's data collection rules and supply-chain challenges have also contributed to the decline and spurred Meta’s biggest drop in nearly a year in October.

Meta shares are down over 8% for the week ending Friday, with the stock on track to suffer its worst weekly decline since June 2020. 

Bloomberg