Meta shares dives 14% this week

Shares of Facebook parent Meta on Friday are at their lowest point since March 2020, the start of the pandemic, after diving 14 percent for the week to close at $146.29.

Meta has declined 61 percent of its value over the past 12 months, by far the biggest slide among Big Tech stocks and more than double the drop in the Nasdaq Composite.

In sliding for five straight days, Meta is now trading just 28 cents above its ending price on March 16, 2020, when the early days of Covid-19 sent U.S. stocks reeling.

If Meta dropped below $146.01, it will be the lowest since January 2019. That’s when Facebook was tackling the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica Scandal that tested consumer confidence in the social media company and led to a series of heated congressional hearings.

Still, Facebook succeeded in expanding its active users in the U.S. that quarter, though by just under 1 percent.

Thereafter officially changing its name to Meta last October, the news for CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company has not sounds well like before.

Apple’s iOS privacy update performed it more difficult for the company to aim ads and the increased popularity of social media rival TikTok has drawn users and advertisers away from the app. In the meantime, an economic slowdown has brought about many companies to pull back on their online marketing spend.

In July, Meta added it was expecting a second straight period of decreasing sales as it reported second-quarter earnings that missed on the top and bottom lines.