Investing.com - Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares were on track to suffer their worst day on record on Thursday, after the social media giant warned that profit margins would plummet for several years due to the costs of improving privacy safeguards and slowing usage in the biggest advertising markets.
Investors were spooked following commentary from the company late Wednesday that its revenue growth rates could slow by “high-single digits” in the third and fourth quarter. It also cautioned that expense growth was likely to outpace revenue growth next year.
Facebook shares, which closed at a record high on Wednesday ahead of the results, plunged roughly 18% to around $177.00, wiping out almost $120 billion in market value.
If the share drop holds, it would be Facebook's largest single-day decline ever, topping a 12% drop in July 2012.
Facebook's 'FANG' brethren were also lower as investors fled the sector.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which reports after the bell Thursday, lost 1.5%.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), which disappointed FANG investors with its own set of weak results earlier this earnings season, shed about 1.1%.
Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 1%.
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