Facebook shares slip as Mark Zuckerberg fails to reassure investors
Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence on the Cambridge Analytica data-privacy scandal, writing to Facebook users that the company "made mistakes." His mea culpa may not have been enough to reassure investors.
Facebook shares $4.50, or 2.7 percent, to close at $164.8\9. Through Thursday, Facebook shares have lost more than10 percent from the closing price on Friday, before the data-privacy issues came to light.
An analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered his price target for Facebook from $265 to $230, saying Zuckerberg's comments aren't likely to fix the situation in the near-term, according to CNBC.
"There was nothing that could be said to appease the most vocal critics, mainstream backlash will persist as Cambridge Analytica remains in the headlines, and we would expect some impact to near-term platform usage," the analyst wrote, according to CNBC.
In a post on Facebook, Zuckerberg wrote that there was a "breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us."
Facebook is no stranger to data-privacy issues, although investors are asking whether this controversy is different from its previous problems. About 50 million Facebook user accounts were reportedly harvested by data firm Cambridge Analytica, which whistleblower Christopher Wylie said used the data to influence U.S. voters in the 2016 presidential election.
The episode comes at a sensitive time for Facebook, which has been trying to repair its image after missteps including failing to halt ads linked to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The hashtag #DeleteFacebook has been trending since the scandal emerged, with some consumers saying they plan to delete their accounts on the social-media service. Although it's unclear how many consumers might delete their accounts, the hashtag appeared 10,000 times in a 2-hour period on Wednesday, according to The New York Times.
