Shares of
parent Meta Platforms Inc. traded substantially lower premarket, putting the technology giant on course for its worst daily performance on record after the company startled investors with a sharper-than-expected decline in profit and a gloomy outlook.
Meta shares were 22% lower ahead of the opening bell. The company said Wednesday that it expected revenue growth to slow because users were spending less time on its more lucrative services. Meta cited inflation as a weight on advertiser spending and estimated that ad-tracking changes introduced by Apple Inc. last year would cost Meta some $10 billion this year.
The share-price decline would wipe more than $175 billion from the tech giant’s market capitalization once markets open Thursday and could spell…
