It's hard to believe that less than two years ago Mark Zuckerberg's social media company, dubbed Facebook, changed its name to Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) and seemingly changed its roadmap to go all-in on the metaverse.
Following the name change in October 2021, Meta went on a hiring frenzy and invested aggressively in marketing and product development. However, after a couple of consecutive earnings reports showcasing heavy burn rates and slower-than-anticipated revenue growth, investors let Meta know how they felt. The company's stock plummeted over 60%, prompting Zuckerberg and his leadership team to make some changes.
During Meta's fourth-quarter 2022 earnings call in February, Zuckerberg declared 2023 the "year of efficiency." In short, Meta vowed to turn its revenue focus back to advertising and made it clear that cost-cutting initiatives, chiefly in the form of layoffs, would be an ongoing exercise until the company was back on track.
Source Fool.com