This year has not been kind to Facebook shareholders.
The company’s stock recently completed its bounce back from the so-called Cambridge Analytica scandal. But following a mixed earnings report Wednesday, in which the company warned investors to brace for slower growth, shareholders have decided that the company is worth roughly $146.6 billion less—more than the value of all Bitcoin currently circulating: $142.3 billion.
Now Facebook’s market value sits at $483 billion, with shares falling about 24% in after hours trading. For comparison, its loss in market capitalization also exceeds the amount it shed following revelations that user data had been obtained by Cambridge Analytics, a analytics firm that helped put President Donald Trump in the White House.
In recent quarters, the company has managed to consistently beat estimates—pushing the stock ever higher, despite criticisms about its Russian-tied ads and the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
But perhaps those issues are finally catching up to the company. On Wednesday, the company posted earnings per share of $1.74 on revenue of $13.04 billion for the second quarter, while analysts had anticipated gains of $1.72 on revenue of $13.36. The company’s user growth also slowed, with its global daily active users rising 1.44% to 1.47 billion—lower than its 3.42% growth in the quarter prior.
What is perhaps even more disheartening to investors: Facebook also said that it expects its growth rate to be lower in the second half of this year as the company seeks to amp up on privacy. That comes as consumers grow more wary of how big tech companies are using their personal information. The European Union meanwhile introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May.
