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Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

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Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#461

Post by ksec »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #299
IgorPartola wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in other words TikTok has made them have to pause and switch to prioritize Reels (which are in every way worse than TikTok BTW) and that means less eyeballs on ads. Honestly Facebook at this point is entirely unusable. My feed is full of shit I don’t want (and I block ads at DNS level so I can’t even imagine what it looks like for most people): Reels, half baked “memes” that are just really random thoughts from pe…

> My feed is full of shit I don’t want I don't log in to Facebook very often, but when I do it's not bad at all. I scroll through a few updates from friends and family and catch up with a few people, then I close it for another week or two. There isn't just one "Facebook" that we all see, obviously. Your feed is going to be a reflection of the groups you've joined and the friends you keep (and haven't muted). If you'…

This, along with all the replies down below is the most un-HN comment I have read for the past 10+ years. Facebook is doomed and crap was the accepted norm.

Especially during pandemic when I get to see update from my friends. Their new born, or kids finally going to school. I have a suspicious feeling many of the negative and politics went somewhere else like Twitter. And the rest are there you could easily filter out. The place is now a lot more calm than it used to be. Although this may be confined to US and UK? My AUS friends are still on Facebook for political battle for some reason.

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#462

Post by arvinsim »

chaostheory wrote: post #415
evilantnie wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be curious if you feel the same way in a year or so. When I first got into VR I felt very strongly it was the future, but that novelty wore off over the course of a year. I go back every few months to catch up on experiences I've missed and try out new tech, but the novelty has still worn off. VR is not a daily use experience for me, and I assume for a lot of consumers, but it is still amazing.

The novelty hasn't worn off for me because I don't treat it as a game console. I treat it as a new form factor computer. I use it daily for HIIT workouts, and I use it to spend time with family and friends who are either far away or busy with life i.e. kids. It's way better than FaceTime or Zoom.

I have been using Beat Saber to clear my Apple Watch exercise rings. I am curious what games or apps you use to do HIIT.

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#463

Post by adam_arthur »

paxys wrote: post #411
PascLeRasc wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off topic: when companies give out stock like this, where is it coming from? Are they printing shares out of thin air or buying back shares to give to employees?

Cash-rich companies (especially the large tech ones) do share buybacks very regularly. Facebook bought back $14.4B worth of shares in Q3 2021, and announced a further $50B worth of buybacks in the coming quarters ( https://www.yahoo.com/now/facebook-warns-fourth-quarter-head... ). Diluting existing shares to give out employee bonuses are comparatively a drop in the bucket.

Not true. Facebook's share count has been roughly neutral, slightly negative. The buybacks get canceled out by employee equity issuances.

Look at Apple's share count over time if you want to see a buyback not overpowered/diluted by employee equity.

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FB/meta-platforms/...

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/aapl/apple/shares-...

It's possible these new rounds of buybacks are far in excess of employee comp though, just saying historically speaking.

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#464

Post by shock-value »

parineum wrote: post #315
GekkePrutser wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you don't have a game PC? The PC games are amazing. If you don't have a good pc there's some streaming services coming online too like plutosphere that's doing a free beta now.

> The PC games are amazing I'm a PC gamer and have a very capable PC but haven't bought any VR equipment because I don't know what I'd play. The issue is probably that I'm not looking for an excuse to buy a headset, I'm waiting for a reason. I don't seek out information for VR and none of it is getting through to me.

If you are into simulations (driving, flying) then I'd say get a headset ASAP. Also potentially if you see yourself getting into immersive rhythm/fitness games. Otherwise I think it's pretty reasonable to wait for more compelling content to be released (and reap the benefits of the better hardware that will be available at that time).

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#465

Post by vhiremath4 »

aylmao wrote: post #388
vhiremath4 wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to disclose a bias I have here: I run a video startup, so I'm pretty incentivized to believe VR will become a standard in several work contexts. That said, when I try my hardest to think objectively about the future of work, I think VR is going to be everywhere. Workers going into factories will become exceedingly rare. The cost of humans is high both from a safety and headcount perspective, and more and more…

I think I agree, though from a more skeptical standpoint. To be fair I haven't used VR much lately, but at first glance I see a lot of parallels between this and the iPad. The iPad is a fantastic device, and it definitely changed the way many people use computers. People use them for all sorts of things, because they feature properties that make them more comfortable for plenty of work applications. I'd argue however…

This feels like a highly probable outcome as well. It feels natural. We shall see! I do wonder if there are patterns we can see in the past of other devices (like the iPad) that ended up being utilities more than main devices.

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#466

Post by JumpCrisscross »

omot wrote: post #169

This is from Mark Zuckerberg's post. I think it's a decent explanation of their performance. Historically Facebook always made these longer-term bets and they've typically paid off. "Before I get to that, I want to briefly touch on our Q4 results, which I know Sheryl and Dave are going to go deeper on. I'm proud of the work our teams did here. We shipped products, our community continued to grow, and businesses of al…

> Historically Facebook always made these longer-term bets and they've typically paid off

Have they? They're better than Google. But most of Facebook's side gigs fizzled. Their last bold leap was from desktop to mobile, and that was only by averting disaster with their Instagram acquisition.

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#467

Post by vhiremath4 »

civilized wrote: post #392
vhiremath4 wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to disclose a bias I have here: I run a video startup, so I'm pretty incentivized to believe VR will become a standard in several work contexts. That said, when I try my hardest to think objectively about the future of work, I think VR is going to be everywhere. Workers going into factories will become exceedingly rare. The cost of humans is high both from a safety and headcount perspective, and more and more…

This was surprisingly persuasive. You're thinking about actual productivity and not just dreaming of avatars sitting at a virtual conference table. (Ick.) I agree with the other commenter that people are going to keep showing up in factories and repair shops, but there may be a decent sized niche of genuine utility. Do us a favor: stay independent and stay interesting. Don't get acquired by Zuck. Maybe the MechE's in…

Yeah I agree. The idea of 1-for-1 bridging avatars around a conference table feels horrible. That's not a world I want to live in.

I do agree it's highly probable that VR becomes a utility until we have another leap in technology (contact-lens form factor?). We shall see!

> Do us a favor: stay independent and stay interesting. Don't get acquired by Zuck. Maybe the MechE's in my family will use your stuff one day.

Thank you I really appreciate this compliment. :) My father is actually a MechE so this comment hits close to home. My background is in materials science as well as computer science. After this company, I think I'll go back to my roots in more physics, chemistry and biology and try to do something within bioengineering. Then again, who knows. I feel, as I get older, the only thing that's certain is that I have no idea what I'll value in 2-3 more years, and I think that's a good thing!

Hope you and your loved ones are doing well internet friend.

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#468

Post by rcpt »

IgorPartola wrote: post #234
omot wrote: post #169

This is from Mark Zuckerberg's post. I think it's a decent explanation of their performance. Historically Facebook always made these longer-term bets and they've typically paid off. "Before I get to that, I want to briefly touch on our Q4 results, which I know Sheryl and Dave are going to go deeper on. I'm proud of the work our teams did here. We shipped products, our community continued to grow, and businesses of al…

So in other words TikTok has made them have to pause and switch to prioritize Reels (which are in every way worse than TikTok BTW) and that means less eyeballs on ads. Honestly Facebook at this point is entirely unusable. My feed is full of shit I don’t want (and I block ads at DNS level so I can’t even imagine what it looks like for most people): Reels, half baked “memes” that are just really random thoughts from pe…

I don't think DNS ad blocking will do much wrt your feed. Sure you won't be able to click into the ads but they're likely all served from the FB domain

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#469

Post by noslenwerdna »

ohashi wrote: post #58
nappy-doo wrote: post #42

The vitriol on HN for FB is something else. The earnings for this company are truly staggering. They made 11$/user. Their earnings were up 34% year-over-year – on a base of 29B dollars. They made 10B more this year than they did last year, and the comments in here are all about, "boy Apple fucked them, and Meta suxor!" You people are nuts. While I don't love FB as an entity, as a business they are making fucking bank…

We can't be critical of a company that makes people miserable? That weakens democracy? That enables violence and hate? Just because they make a lot of money we should be cheering? Oh wow, they made $11! Let's forget everything else.

It doesn't weaken democracy any more than other social media. And if facebook goes down it's just going to be replaced with tiktok or something worse.

Re: Meta shares drop 20% on Q4 earnings miss, weak outlook

#470

Post by noslenwerdna »

zepto wrote: post #270
lhorie wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if you don't have a stock position, why parrot the same tired narrative? It's not adding any insight and it's not like their stock never had downswing before. At one point the crowd here was like oh fb ipo so embarrassing, to oh fb eng so hot much react, to oh fb so evil now, crash and burn pls. Such fickleness. Surely we can do better than that.

Facebook is a machine that makes people parrot tired narratives that are devoid of insight.

What an insightful comment!
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