Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has been awarded the undesirable title of worst performer in the S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) this year as of Friday as investors grow increasingly concerned about CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse vision.
Meta shares are down about 73% over the past year and nearly 80% off its 2021 high of $384 per share. The social media stock is performing worse than the S&P's prior worst stock Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN), which is down about 72% for its year-to-date.
The company now stands at a market cap of $236 million, well below its $1 trillion market cap gained last summer. Meta's decline is also more impactful to the broad sector benchmark, with Meta accounting for 0.7% of the S&P's weight compared to Align's 0.04%.
Investors have grown less confident in the Facebook-parent's future since Zuckerberg pivoted the company's strategy towards the metaverse, which is considered to be the next generation of the internet. Meta has focused much of its investments on virtual reality and augmented reality technology, betting that as computer technology progresses the company will be a leader in the space.
However, that bet has brought some pain to Meta. The company's metaverse-focused arm Reality Labs has lost $9.4 billion so far this year, according to Meta's recent third quarter earnings report. And that segment's losses are expected to "grow significantly year-over-year", according to Meta.
Moreover, Meta has been hit with headwinds from Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) updated privacy settings ending ad tracking, thus making Meta's ads less effective and causing revenue losses. Meta's social media platforms Facebook and Instagram are also losing market share, especially amongst younger users, as ByteDance's TikTok continues to gain popularity.
Meta has also experience other ad revenue losses similar to other social media companies like Snap (NYSE: SNAP) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) as the threat of a possible recession causes companies to pull back on their advertising spending.
In its latest earnings report, Meta posted its second straight quarterly sales decline and issued weak fourth-quarter guidance as inflation and macroeconomic uncertainties scare off advertisers.
Meta also said it will be reducing its headcount last month as it focuses on cost cutting measures, similar to moves recently taken by other tech giants like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Stripe.
In the company's third-quarter earnings call, Zuckerberg noted that "this is a period that demands more intensity and I expect us to get more done with fewer resources".