With reporting a weaker than expected forecast, Meta Platforms Inc., (formerly known as Facebook), witnessed over 20 percent drop in its shares amidst Apple Inc’s privacy changes besides growing competition for users from rivals like TikTok.

For the first time, the former’s daily active user base worldwide declined from the previous quarter with 1.930 billion to 1.929 billion.

Word on the streets say, Apple's privacy changes to its operating system have made it more difficult for brands to target and measure their ads on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta. Macroeconomic factors such as supply-chain disruptions were also mentioned.

Due to increased competition for users' time and a shift in engagement toward features like its short video offering Reels, which generate less revenue, the 18-year-old tech giant, which also faces pressure from platforms like TikTok and Google's YouTube, said it expects revenue growth to slow in the coming quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Facebook reported 2.91 billion monthly active users, unchanged from the previous quarter.

Meta shares lost $ 200 billion in market value after hours, while peers Twitter Inc, Snap Inc, and Pinterest Inc lost another $15 billion.

Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) shares were down roughly two percent after the company reported record quarterly sales that beat estimates.

Meta, the world's second-largest digital ad platform after Google, had previously warned that the fourth quarter would bring ‘significant uncertainty’ to its advertising business.

First-quarter sales are expected to be in the $27 billion to $29 billion range, according to Meta. According to Refinitiv's IBES statistics, analysts expected $30.15 billion.

According to IBES statistics from Refinitiv, the company's overall revenue increased to $33.67 billion in the fourth quarter from $28.07 billion a year earlier, topping analysts' projections of $33.40 billion.

For the full year 2021, Meta's Reality Labs, the company's augmented and virtual reality division, lost $10.2 billion, compared to a $6.6 billion loss the previous year. This was the first time the company had separated this segment from the rest of its results.

The company announced that its stock symbol would change to "META" this year, the latest step in its rebranding to focus on the metaverse, a futuristic concept of virtual spaces where users may work, connect, and play.

Meta's rebranding comes at a time when politicians and regulators are scrutinizing the company for alleged anticompetitive behaviour and the consequences of how it handles toxic or false content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.

“Investors looking at Meta are starting to realize that buying their stock is no longer mostly an investment into their ad platform”, says Flynn Zaiger, CEO of social media agency Online Optimism. "Investing in Meta now looks more like a commitment that you believe that the metaverse will replace much of the internet consumers' experience today”.