Meta stock plummets after Zuckerberg touts money-losing projects

Mark Zuckerberg started Meta’s earnings call Wednesday by talking about artificial intelligence. Then he moved onto the metaverse, touting his company’s headsets, glasses and operating system. He spent almost the entirety of his opening remarks focused on the many ways Meta loses money.

Investors weren’t into it. Meta shares tumbled as much as 19% in extended trading on Wednesday, wiping out more than $200 billion in market cap. The drop came despite Meta reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue for the first quarter. Shares opened more than 14% lower Thursday.

Zuckerberg appeared ready for the sell-off.

“I think it’s worth calling that out, that we’ve historically seen a lot of volatility in our stock during this phase of our product playbook where we’re investing in scaling a new product but aren’t yet monetizing it,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday. He cited past efforts like short-video service Reels, Stories and the transition to mobile.