Meta’s stock plunges over 16% after earnings report, wiping out $240 billion market cap.
The aftermath of Meta’s earnings report sends shockwaves as its stock nosedives over 16% in after-hours trading. With a staggering $240 billion market cap loss, the company faces scrutiny amid concerns over rising costs and revenue forecasts.
Key Points:
Meta’s stock experiences a drastic decline of more than 16% in after-hours trading following its earnings report.
The company’s market cap suffers a massive loss exceeding $240 billion, marking one of the biggest single-day losses in stock market history.
Despite better-than-expected first-quarter results, Meta’s light revenue forecast and anticipated increase in costs trigger investor sell-off.
Key financial figures include earnings per share of $4.71 and revenue of $36.46 billion, both slightly exceeding analyst expectations.
Meta’s investment in areas like artificial intelligence and infrastructure contributes to rising costs, impacting profit margins.
The company faces challenges in maintaining growth momentum amid increased competition and evolving market dynamics.
https://citizenwatchreport.com/metas-stock-plunges-over-16-after-earnings-report-wiping-out-240-billion-market-cap/
US secretly shipped ATACMS missiles to Ukraine – media
President Biden personally approved the delivery, an anonymous official has said
Washington secretly sent Kiev an unspecified number of longer-range ATACMS missiles last month, multiple US outlets reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous US government official.
The Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), with a range up to 300 kilometers, were included in the $300-million package of military aid approved by President Joe Biden on March 12, according to the official, who spoke with Reuters, Politico and the New York Times, among others.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said that Ukraine used the missiles for the first time last Wednesday, targeting a Russian airfield about 165 kilometers (103 miles) from the front line.
On the morning of April 17, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said his forces had attacked the airbase in Dzhankoy, Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on that claim.
Zelensky has long clamored for longer-range missiles. According to the anonymous official cited in Reuters’ report, the Pentagon was initially opposed, but changed its mind after Russia used ballistic missiles allegedly supplied by North Korea and began targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“We warned Russia about those things,” the official said. “They renewed their targeting.”
Biden was advised to send the longer-range missiles by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Charles Q Brown, the official said.
The ATACMS were acquired from Lockheed Martin, rather than from the Pentagon stockpiles, and paid for by the “savings” discovered in March, when several military contracts were reportedly delivered for less than the original bid value.
According to the official, Biden instructed his aides to include the ATACMS in the package but to keep it secret, so as to preserve Ukraine’s “operational security and the element of surprise.”
Ukraine first received mid-range ATACMS last September. The Russian military quickly began shooting them down, however, thwarting Zelensky’s plan to damage or destroy the Crimean Bridge.
“This is yet another mistake on the part of the United States,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said last October, explaining that, had Washington refrained from sending the missiles, it could have later positioned itself as the “good guy” for its attempts to prevent needless casualties.
With Russia upgrading its air defenses to intercept the ATACMS, their arrival will not have a major impact on combat operations, and will only “prolong the agony” of Ukraine, Putin explained. “That’s why it’s a mistake.”
https://www.rt.com/news/596527-atacms-secret-delivery-ukraine/
https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/354640013004259328
https://web.archive.org/web/20170715134813/https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/354640013004259328