Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (FB) lost more than $237 billion U.S. in value yesterday (February 3), making it the biggest single day drop in value in the history of the U.S. stock market.
Meta’s plunge, based on a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast, topped the prior record set by Apple (AAPL), when it lost $182 billion U.S. in market value in September 2020.
The seven biggest drops in stock market history have all occurred in the last two years, as Apple, Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA) and Amazon (AMZN) have ballooned in valuation.
Prior to 2020, the largest drop was from Facebook — a $119 billion U.S. decline in 2018. That also occurred after Facebook forecast revenue below analyst estimates.
Meta’s drop in value comes as the company is looking past its current businesses, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and toward the metaverse, a virtual world based on new technologies.
Meta Platforms’ Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said that the company had a net loss of $10 billion U.S. in 2021 attributable to its investment in developing the metaverse.
