Meta is going to continue to face challenges and pressure from investors as the company recorded a dip in quarterly revenue for the first time ever, Wall Street analysts told Reuters.

On its second quarter earnings call, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company issued a gloomy forecast for its third quarter revenue. Currently, the company says that it expects revenue to fall to anywhere between $26 billion to $28 billion. Analysts were expecting $30.52 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

In the aftermath of the earnings call, shares were down 6%, closing at $159.8, wiping out roughly $30 billion in market value for the day. 

Companies like Meta who rely on ad sales to boost revenue have been hit particularly hard by the privacy measures that Apple introduced last year. The new controls that iPhones came equipped with in 2021 have made it difficult for the targeted ad-based platforms like Meta and Snapchat to do business effectively. 

Also Read: Meta top brass to be deposed on Cambridge Analytica scandal

Combined with the exploding growth of ByteDance’s TikTok, there is a distinct fear of recession going around at Meta, according to a Reuters report. So much so that executives within the company have been pushing to make Facebook and Instagram more algorithmic.

Also Read: How Mark Zuckerberg is prepping Meta for a potential recession

The Home and Feed tabs on the social networking site are being restructured to show more content from accounts that users don’t follow. On Instagram, the metaverse company has been pouring resources into its Reels as Zuckerberg revealed that the time users spent watching short-form video content had increased by 30%.

While Meta spent time developing a new direction for Instagram, user backlash has made the company put the new features on hold for the time being. However, it has been made clear by the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, that the pause is not permanent. 

According to a Reuters report, analysts say that despite the company’s poor performance now, it could come back stronger in 2023. But as the U.S. Congress clamps down on Big Tech by passing new laws and legislation, only time will tell how well Meta will fare.