Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno County Authorities Seek Help Locating Missing Woman and Infant

4 hours ago

Maddy Institute Fundraiser to Highlight Central Valley’s Impact at State Capitol

4 hours ago

No Aid Supplies Left and Staff Are Starving in Gaza, Says Norwegian Refugee Council

5 hours ago

US Targets Houthis With Fresh Sanctions Action

5 hours ago

Oil Prices Fall as Tariff Deadline Looms

6 hours ago

US Justice Dept. Asks Epstein Associate Maxwell to Speak to Prosecutors

6 hours ago

Trump’s Golden Dome Looks for Alternatives to Musk’s SpaceX

6 hours ago

Masked Raids and Impersonators Driving Force Behind Terror Campaign Across Nation

6 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Free Immunization Clinics for Students Start in August

7 hours ago

Americans’ Confidence in Institutions Remains Low. Divides by Party Widen

7 hours ago
Zuckerberg Loses $16 Billion in a Day. Facebook Stock Plunges.
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 7 years ago on
July 26, 2018

Share

NEW YORK — Facebook faced a day of reckoning as its shares plunged Thursday in the company’s worst trading day since going public in 2012. It was among the biggest one-day losses of market value in U.S. stock market history.
The 19 percent drop in Facebook shares vaporized $119 billion of the company’s market value in the largest one-day loss in market history. CEO Mark Zuckerberg alone saw his net worth fall by roughly $16 billion as a result.
In a sign of just how bullish investor expectations had been running, though, the collapse merely returned Facebook shares to a level last seen in early May. At that point, the stock was still recovering from an earlier battering over a major privacy scandal.
Late Wednesday, Facebook warned that its revenue growth will slow down significantly for at least the remainder of the year and that expenses will continue to skyrocket.

User Growth Doesn’t Meet Projections

The earnings covered the company’s first full quarter since the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal erupted. But analysts attributed the user growth shortfall largely to European privacy rules that went into effect in May, not to the furor over the political consulting firm with ties to President Donald Trump, which improperly accessed the data of tens millions of Facebook users.
Shares closed down almost 19 percent, at $176.26.
Facebook continues to grapple with big existential questions, ranging from its users’ privacy to tech addiction to how it deals with fake news and misinformation, hate speech and extremism on its service.
At times, it has seemed as though Facebook can’t quite decide where its values really lie. For instance, it continues to straddle the line between policing what users say and remaining a neutral platform in an increasingly divided world, and between protecting privacy while collecting as much information on its users as possible.
Facebook had 2.23 billion monthly users as of June 30, up 11 percent from a year earlier. Analysts were expecting 2.25 billion, according to FactSet. User growth — both on a monthly and daily basis — was flat in the U.S. and the rest of North America, while it declined slightly in Europe.

Facebook Saturated in US, Western Europe

Facebook has largely saturated in the U.S. and Western European markets, and is now looking to countries such as Brazil, India, and Indonesia for new users. Revenue from these regions, however, is far below what Facebook rakes in from the U.S. and Europe.
The company earned $5.1 billion, or $1.74 per share, up 31 percent and above analysts’ estimates of $1.71.
But revenue — up 42 percent to $13.23 billion— was slightly below the $13.34 that Wall Street was expecting.
Facebook said the European privacy rules, called General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, did not have a big effect on the quarter’s revenue, but also noted that they were only in effect for about a month before the quarter ended.

Instagram Doing Well

Over the long term, GDPR may end up favoring Facebook and other large companies that have the resources to adapt to new requirements. They could similarly disadvantage smaller, lesser-known companies that don’t have the resources to comply and which could face big fines if they don’t.
One bright spot for Facebook has been Instagram, the photo-sharing app it bought for $1 billion in 2012. Instagram now has more than 1 billion users, and analysts expect it to be a model for how Facebook molds its other big app purchase, WhatsApp, into a lucrative business. So far, WhatsApp doesn’t show ads, and its founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton left Facebook amid disagreements over advertising and other issues.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Epstein Files Fight Leads US House Republicans to Start Summer Break a Day Early

DON'T MISS

Obama Reiterates Conclusion of Attempted Russian Interference in 2016 Election

DON'T MISS

What Do Fresno Families Pay in Taxes? Study Says 11th Lowest Rate in Nation

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Received $16 Million Payment After Paramount Lawsuit Settlement

DON'T MISS

Farming Giant Boswell Silent as It Plans to Sink Tulare Lake Bed Another 10 feet

DON'T MISS

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s Bat-Biting Frontman, Dies Aged 76, BBC Reports

DON'T MISS

NPR’s Top Editor Edith Chapin to Step Down

DON'T MISS

Trump Says US, Philippines ‘Very Close’ to Finalizing Trade Deal

DON'T MISS

US to Mediate Israel-Syria Meeting on Thursday, Axios Reports

DON'T MISS

Students Protest in Bangladesh After Air Force Jet Crash Kills 31, Mostly Children

UP NEXT

Obama Reiterates Conclusion of Attempted Russian Interference in 2016 Election

UP NEXT

NPR’s Top Editor Edith Chapin to Step Down

UP NEXT

Less Than 400 EV Charging Ports Built Under $7.5 Billion US Infrastructure Program

UP NEXT

California Voters Say State Is Off Course. Housing Emerges as Top Concern

UP NEXT

Fresno County Authorities Seek Help Locating Missing Woman and Infant

UP NEXT

Americans’ Confidence in Institutions Remains Low. Divides by Party Widen

UP NEXT

US Judge Sentences Ex-Police Officer to 33 Months for Violating Civil Rights of Breonna Taylor

UP NEXT

Brother of Army Ranger and NFL Star Pat Tillman Crashes Into Post Office

UP NEXT

How Will KVPR and Valley PBS Deal With Loss of Federal Funding?

UP NEXT

Trump Diagnosed With Vein Condition Causing Leg Swelling, White House Says

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Trump Says Received $16 Million Payment After Paramount Lawsuit Settlement

2 hours ago

Farming Giant Boswell Silent as It Plans to Sink Tulare Lake Bed Another 10 feet

2 hours ago

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s Bat-Biting Frontman, Dies Aged 76, BBC Reports

2 hours ago

NPR’s Top Editor Edith Chapin to Step Down

3 hours ago

Trump Says US, Philippines ‘Very Close’ to Finalizing Trade Deal

3 hours ago

US to Mediate Israel-Syria Meeting on Thursday, Axios Reports

3 hours ago

Students Protest in Bangladesh After Air Force Jet Crash Kills 31, Mostly Children

3 hours ago

Trump Blames Obama for What He Calls 2016 Attempt to Tie Him to Russia

4 hours ago

Less Than 400 EV Charging Ports Built Under $7.5 Billion US Infrastructure Program

4 hours ago

California Voters Say State Is Off Course. Housing Emerges as Top Concern

4 hours ago

Epstein Files Fight Leads US House Republicans to Start Summer Break a Day Early

WASHINGTON – The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday he would send lawmakers home a day early for a fi...

19 minutes ago

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the dome of the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
19 minutes ago

Epstein Files Fight Leads US House Republicans to Start Summer Break a Day Early

Former U.S. President Barack Obama attends the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Reuters File)
28 minutes ago

Obama Reiterates Conclusion of Attempted Russian Interference in 2016 Election

1 hour ago

What Do Fresno Families Pay in Taxes? Study Says 11th Lowest Rate in Nation

Paramount Global logo is seen in this illustration taken December 17, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
2 hours ago

Trump Says Received $16 Million Payment After Paramount Lawsuit Settlement

2 hours ago

Farming Giant Boswell Silent as It Plans to Sink Tulare Lake Bed Another 10 feet

Commonwealth Games - Closing Ceremony - Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, Britain - August 8, 2022 Ozzy Osbourne performs during the closing ceremony REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
2 hours ago

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s Bat-Biting Frontman, Dies Aged 76, BBC Reports

The logo of the National Public Radio is pictured on the day National Public Radio and three Colorado public radio stations sued the Trump administration over the president's executive order to cut federal funding for public broadcasting, at its West office in Culver City, California, U.S., May 27, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

NPR’s Top Editor Edith Chapin to Step Down

President Donald Trump, flanked by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 22, 2025. (Reuters/Kent Nishimura)
3 hours ago

Trump Says US, Philippines ‘Very Close’ to Finalizing Trade Deal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend