What happened
Shares of Meta Platforms (META 1.54%) fell around 4% on Friday, which was just slightly more than the S&P 500's 2.8% drop. Meta stock even hit a new 52-week low, dropping to $132.44 per share, according to Yahoo Finance. The market's performance didn't help today, but negative news for Meta also likely played a part in bringing the stock down.
So what
Facebook rebranded to Meta Platforms last year as it went all-in on the metaverse trend. For this reason, a less-than-flattering piece from The Verge could be rattling shareholders today. The article alleges to have obtained an internal memo that says the company's metaverse platform has problems. In fact, it has so many problems that the team building it is barely using it -- not good considering the metaverse is central to Meta Platforms' vision.
Additionally, Facebook released a statement today saying it's discovered around 400 apps that try to steal login information. And according to Bloomberg, around 1 million Facebook accounts have already been compromised. To be fair, this sounds more like an Apple and Alphabet problem, since the apps are downloaded from those platforms. However, it affects Facebook users nonetheless, and it could have contributed to the stock's decline today.
Now what
Not only did Meta Platforms reach a new 52-week low today, it's also now trading at its cheapest price-to-earnings (P/E) valuation since it went public a decade ago, as the chart shows.
META PE Ratio data by YCharts
According to Yardeni Research, the average P/E of the S&P 500 is around 20. Therefore, Meta Platforms trades at a steep discount. The question remains whether the company can create shareholder value from building its metaverse platform or whether the project will be a colossal money pit.
I believe the metaverse trend will develop over decades, not years, meaning Meta Platforms is likely to see little return on investment for a long time. For this reason, it could trade at a depressed valuation from here and isn't a compelling buying opportunity, in my opinion.
