Facebook’s market value plunges $119 billion

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Facebook’s user base and revenue grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter as the company grappled with privacy issues. | AP file photo

NEW YORK — The 19 percent loss in Facebook’s stock chopped $119 billion off its market value.

It was the company’s worst trading day since going public in 2012, and among the biggest one-day losses of market value in U.S. stock market history.

The loss came a day after Facebook revealed that its user base and revenue grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter as it grappled with privacy issues.

Those revelations stunned investors, who believed the company had weathered the recent scandal over users’ privacy and pushed the stock to an all-time high Wednesday of $217.50.

Facebook was downgraded by a number of industry analysts who were caught off guard by slowing growth in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The company also warned that it expects revenue growth to decelerate in the next couple of quarters as it promotes new, and for now less profitable, products — such as its Stories disappearing message feature. It is also allowing users to make “more choices” around data privacy amid public outcry and regulatory pressures.

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