Things Suck for Zuck as Meta’s Growth Comes Unstuck
The company reports drop in revenue for the first time ever
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Since going public in May 2012, Facebook (now Meta) has reported its first-ever revenue decline.
In its Q2 earnings, the company revealed it had missed virtually all its targets, bringing to close a decade of unprecedented growth and relentless revenue. Earnings per share fell short. Revenue fell short. Monthly active users fell short. Average earnings per user fell short.
In sum, it all fell short. And for a company whose sole goal is connection — lol, sorry, I mean growth at all costs — these numbers make bad reading and continue the recent downward trend in its performance. Projections for Q3 hardly painted a confident picture either, with revenue expected to miss predicted estimates again. The company blamed a “continuation of the weak advertising demand environment,” which they believe is caused by “broader macroeconomic uncertainty.” During the call, Zuckerberg did note that the company would deliver on one trend — laying off staff — admitting that “I expect us to get more done with fewer resources.”
In after-hours trading, shares dropped nearly 5%. Zooming out from the chart compounds the bad news, with Meta Platforms shares down over 40% since the start of 2022.
The disappointing earnings report caps off a truly terrible year for the company. There have been problems aplenty, including:
- Francis Haugen turned whistleblower, lifting the lid on some of the poor practices going on inside the company. She confirmed what we all suspected; the company puts “astronomical profits before people.” The backlash was strong, and the company made numerous PR gaffs, including a powderpuff PR piece that denied any wrongdoing.
- Leaked slides showed that the company was aware that Instagram was harming teenage girls. Instead of considering a strategy to fix the problem, they used the same strategy of discrediting the evidence and denying any wrongdoing.
- Slowly but surely, it’s becoming clear that the company…
