Meta drops out of list of world's 10 most valuable firms

Meta Platforms has tumbled out of the world’s 10 largest companies by market value, hammered by its worst monthly stock decline ever.

Once the world’s sixth largest company with a valuation in excess of US$1-trillion (R15-trillion), the Facebook parent closed on Thursday with a value of $565-billion, placing it in 11th place behind Tencent Holdings.

Meta Platforms, which changed its name from Facebook last year as part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to shift the company’s focus to immersive digital experiences, has seen more than $500-billion in market value destroyed from a September peak. The stock extended losses on Thursday in the wake of a dismal earnings report two weeks ago that revealed stagnating user growth. It has now fallen 46% from last year’s record.

Tesla, with a market value of $906-billion, has taken Meta’s place as the sixth biggest company behind e-commerce giant Amazon.com. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway trails the electric vehicle maker at $700-billion, followed by chip-maker Nvidia at $613-billion.