Chart Of The Day: Facebook Shares Tumble—Buying Dip Or Sign Of Weakness Ahead?

 | Oct 05, 2021 14:35

Technology bulls were hammered on Monday as the sector's stocks were pressured by investor worries about rising yields and what that might signal regarding higher rates. The tech-heavy NASDAQ index was yesterday's worst performer among the US major indices, down more than 2% at the close.

But sector stalwart and FAANG component Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) had an even worse day. Shares of the social media behemoth, which lost almost 5% at the finish, faced two additional headwinds specific to the company itself. Just before midday Monday ET, all of Facebook's platforms, which include WhatsApp and Instagram, suffered a global outage, taking the company—whose apps are utilised by nearly 3.5 billion users—down for nearly six hours. That was the longest time in memory that Facebook was out of commission.

Adding to the pressure on the Menlo Park, California-based company, the blackout came on the heels of a whistleblower, former employee Frances Haugen, providing the SEC and the Wall Street Journal with thousands of documents allegedly demonstrating that FB prioritized profits over protecting its users.

Though FB's Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer tweeted an apology, investors weren't even remotely mollified. The stock was sold off, extending a rout to its fourth consecutive day for a total 13.85% loss. That's FB's worst slump since the March 2020 bottom.