FACEBOOK STOCK SHOCK; SHARES ANOTHER ‑20% AFTER EARNINGS COLLAPSE…

Meta shares continued their 2022 freefall, plunging 19% in extended trading on Wednesday after Facebook’s parent issued a weak forecast for the fourth quarter and came up well short of Wall Street’s expectations for earnings.Earnings per share (EPS): $1.64 vs $1.89 expected, according to RefinitivRevenue: $27.71 billion vs. $27.38 billion expected, according to RefinitivDaily Active Users (DAUs): 1.98 billion vs 1.98 billion expected, according to StreetAccountMonthly Active Users (MAUs): 2.96 billion vs 2.94 billion expected, according to StreetAccountAverage Revenue per User (ARPU): $9.41 vs. $9.83 expected, according to StreetAccountMeta is contending with a broad slowdown in online ad spending, challenges from Apple’s iOS privacy update and increased competition from TikTok. Add it up, and Meta has posted consecutive quarters of revenue declines and is expected to post its third straight drop in the fourth quarter.The company said revenue for the fourth quarter will be $30 billion to $32.5 billion. Analysts were expecting sales of $32.2 billion.Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives for testimony before the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill October 23, 2019 in Washington, DC.Win McNamee | Getty ImagesWhile revenue fell 4% in the third quarter, Meta’s costs and expenses rose 19% year over year to $22.1 billion. Operating income declined 46% from the previous year to $5.66 billion.Meta’s operating margin, or the profits left after accounting for costs to run the business, sank to 20% from 36% a year earlier. Overall net income was down 52% to $4.4 billion in the third quarter.At its after-hours levels of about $108, Meta is trading at its lowest since March 2016, which was eight months before the election of Donald Trump as president.Revenue in the Reality Labs unit, which houses the company’s virtual reality headsets and its futuristic metaverse business, fell by almost half from a year earlier to $285 million. Its loss widened to $3.67 billion from $2.63 billion in the same quarter last year.Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:Reality Labs has lost $9.4 billion so far this year, and there’s no end in immediate sight.“We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year,” Meta said. “Beyond 2023, we expect to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of growing overall company operating income in the long run.“Meta said that it is “holding some teams flat in terms of headcount, shrinking others and investing headcount growth only in our highest priorities.”“As a result, we expect headcount at the end of 2023 will be approximately in-line with third quarter 2022 levels,” the company …