Facebook Shares Sink After Storm Of Bad News

Chief financial officer David Wehner warned Wednesday in an earnings call with analysts that revenue growth had already "decelerated" in the second quarter and would drop "by high single-digit percentages" in coming quarters. Brian Sheehan, a Syracuse University professor of communication and advertising, said the weak forecast "made investors nervous about more basic long-term issues" with the huge social network, notably its diminished appeal to younger users. Until Wednesday, Facebook shares had been at record highs as investors seemed to shrug off fears about data protection and probes into the hijacking of private information by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook has invested heavily in "safety, security and privacy" after being rocked by concerns of manipulation of the platform to spread misinformation, warning of an "impact" on profitability. "Facebook stills owns two of the largest media assets in the world (Facebook and Instagram) and the two largest messaging assets in the world (Messenger and WhatsApp)," Mahaney said in a note to clients, adding that he sees "no material change in marketer views of the attractiveness" of Facebook platforms.