Meta's revenue shrank for the first time in its history

Meta has just reported its earnings for the second quarter of 2022, and it was another quarter of decreasing profits. Net income dropped 36 percent as total revenue was down one percent. The amount of profit that was made is not bad, but the decline compared to a year ago is significant. Even though we're only talking one percent, this is the first ever drop in revenue for Meta / Facebook.

Reality Labs grew 48 percent year-over-year, and revenue from advertising and Meta's family of apps was essentially flat. Reality Labs lost more money in the second quarter of this year than it did in the second quarter of last year. It looks like Reality Labs will lose more than the $10 billion it cost the company in 2021. Reality labs revenue is expected to be lower in the third quarter.

On the same day as this, the FTC announced it was seeking to block Meta's acquisition of Within, a proposed sale that was announced last year. The deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition said that Meta is trying to buy its way to the top.

In June, Meta said that it had more than three billion daily active users in its family of apps and 3.65 billion monthly active users, both of which are up 4% compared to a year ago. The growth was small, with the average daily and monthly users only increasing by 3% and 1%, respectively.

A leadership change announcement is buried in the press release. David Wehner, Meta's Chief Financial Officer, will be the company's first Chief Strategy Officer. When the change goes into effect, Susan Li will become the CFO. Wehner will see the company's strategy and corporate development as the company's chief security officer.

According to the CEO on the call, he expects that recommendation posts will double over the next year. Things aren't going to change any time soon if you're already frustrated by the changes.