Sunday, September 18, 2022

Facebook stock falls to yet another ignominious level

Emily Bary - Friday


Facebook was a member of the exclusive $1 trillion club a year ago, but it’s fallen a long way since then.



Facebook stock falls to yet another ignominious level© josh edelson/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Now named Meta Platforms Inc. the company saw its market value fall below $400 billion Friday for the first time since Jan. 7, 2019, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Meta’s valuation is 63.5% lower than its Sept. 7, 2021, peak of $1.078 trillion.

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Meta shares dropped 2.2% Friday, closing the week down 13.5% after registering declines in all five sessions. Friday’s fall brought Meta shares to their lowest close since March 16, 2020, when they finished at $146.01, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Any close below that point would see Meta officially erase all of its pandemic-era stock gains.

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The swift decline in Meta shares in recent months reflects more than just macroeconomic fears. Yes, Meta is exposed to pullbacks in advertiser spending due to a weakening economy, but the company must also contend with TikTok’s rising competitive threat, as well as the lingering impacts of Apple Inc.’s privacy-related changes that affect ad targeting.

Meta is now the 10th most valuable U.S. company by market capitalization, after falling behind Visa Inc. earlier this week. While Meta shares are off 61% over the past 12 months, Visa’s stock has only fallen 14%, and the payments giant’s business has been seen as relatively resilient in the current climate given that overall consumer spending levels remain healthy.


Now Meta risks dropping out of the top-10 entirely: The company finished Friday’s session with a $393.2 billion valuation, while 11th-place Exxon Mobil Corp. ended at $388.5 billion.

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