Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc. attends the Viva Tech start-up and technology gathering at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on May 24, 2018 in Paris, France.This story requires our BI Prime membership. To read the full article,Facebook's regulatory issues are starting to affect"the fundamental business in ways we haven't seen before," an analyst has warned.
The $5 billion fine notwithstanding, Facebook's numbers for the quarter were strong, and Wall Street largely shrugged off concerns about the impact of regulation. But not everyone is so blasé about the risk, and analysts from financial services firm Macquarie are warning that"regulatory concerns are impacting ... the fundamental business in ways we haven't seen before."
"They are weighing not just on investor sentiment, but on how [management] is able to run the business," he wrote."FB's forward-looking [profit and loss] would inarguably look much stronger without the looming regulatory issues that are clearly impacting how it is allocating resources.
Macquarie's concerns echo what Zuckerberg said on a call with analysts on Wednesday — that the FTC settlement will contribute to changes in Facebook's business.