Facebook parent company reports a drop in revenue for first time ever

Meta’s, Facebook’s parent company, revenue fell for the first time ever and profit shrank for the third straight quarter.

There is concern about growing competition from TikTok and nervousness from advertisers, CNN Business confirmed on Thursday, July 28.

“We seem to have entered an economic downturn that will have a broad impact on the digital advertising business,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors on a conference call. “I’d say that the situation seems worse than it did a quarter ago.”

“This is a period that demands more intensity, and I expect us to get more done with fewer resources,” he added.

Meta shares were down on the news, adding to a slide that has cut the company’s market value nearly in half since it reported its first-ever drop in daily Facebook users at the end of last year.

In an attempt to reassure investors, Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s Chief Operating Officer said “Meta is a company that has shown extraordinary resilience.”

“We’ve made big transitions, like the shift from desktop to mobile or Feed to Stories.”

She added: “The investments we’re making in Reels, in our discovery engine, business messaging, controlling our ad system and especially in helping to build the metaverse represent enormous opportunities for our business.”