Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB), the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, stock plunges 25.32% (As on Feb 3, 12:15:10 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company forecasts first quarter sales below the market’s expectations. Net loss from Meta’s Reality Labs, the company’s augmented and virtual reality business, was $10.2bn for the full year 2021, up from $6.6bn the previous year. It was the first time the company had broken out this segment in its earnings. Facebook’s monthly active users rose 4% at 2.91 billion, under the 2.95 billion estimate.

FB in the fourth quarter of FY 21 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.67, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $3.84. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 20 percent to $33.67 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 21, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $33.40 billion.

Additionally, Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $5.54 billion and $19.24 billion for the fourth quarter and full year 2021, respectively. FB had repurchased $19.18 billion and $44.81 billion of the Class A common stock in the fourth quarter and full year 2021, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we had $38.79 billion available and authorized for repurchases. Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $48.0 billion as of December 31, 2021.

The company forecast first-quarter revenue to be in the range of $27bn to $29bn, while the analysts were expecting $30.15bn, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The company expects 2022 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $29-34 billion, unchanged from the prior estimate. The planned capital expenditures are primarily driven by investments in data centers, servers, network infrastructure, and office facilities. This range reflects a significant increase in the artificial intelligence and machine learning investments, which will support a number of areas across our Family of Apps. While the Reality Labs products and services may require more infrastructure capacity in the future, they do not require substantial capacity today and, as a result, are not a significant driver of 2022 capital expenditures. The company expects 2022 total expenses to be in the range of $90-95 billion, updated from the prior outlook of $91-97 billion. The anticipated expense growth is driven by investments in technical and product talent and infrastructure-related costs.