More than £100bn has been wiped from Meta’s value as fears grow over Facebook’s owner’s huge spending on artificial intelligence (AI).
Shares of the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, fell 10.6 percent in New York after it said expenses would be higher than previously expected.
That wiped £105bn off Meta’s value. In an update on Tuesday, the group said it will spend up to £32bn in 2024, up from a previous forecast of £30bn.
Chief Mark Zuckerberg said the group “should invest much more to build even more advanced models and the world’s largest-scale artificial intelligence services.”
The FTSE 100 broke above 8,100 for the first time, rising as high as 8,102, before retreating slightly.
AI boost: Shares of Facebook owner Meta, which also owns Instagram and Whats App, fell 11.1% in New York after it said expenses would be higher than previously expected.
However, it continued to rise 0.5 percent, or 38.48 points, to 8,078.86. The FTSE 250 was down 0.6 per cent, or 117.39 points, at 19,601.98.
Housebuilder Persimmon is on track to build between 10,000 and 10,500 homes this year.
It built 1,027 between January and March, 10 per cent less than the same period last year, while sales increased as did enquiries. But shares fell 0.7 per cent, or 9.5p, to 1,282.5p.
Travel retailer WH Smith’s high street sales, which fell 4 per cent to £256m in the first half to February 6, took the shine off an otherwise strong set of results.
The shares fell 6 per cent, or 76 pence, to 1,182 pence. Advertising giant WPP fell 0.9 per cent, or 7.4 pence, to 796.4 pence due to a poor performance in North America, its largest market.
There, sales fell 5.2 percent to £1.06 billion in the first three months of the year as technology clients cut spending and ended contracts.
That led to revenue falling 1.6 per cent to £2.7bn.
Schroders reported £760.4 billion of assets under management, up from £750.6 billion in the previous quarter.
His update came a day after the investment firm said its chief executive, Peter Harrison, will retire next year. The shares fell 5.5 per cent, or 20 pence, to 347.2 pence.
The Senior British engineer will receive £104 million to work with Spirit Aerosystems for a further five years supplying components for Boeing aircraft. The shares rose 2.4 per cent, or 3.8 pence, to 163.8 pence.
Hikma rose 2.3 per cent, or 41 pence, to 1,854 pence after the pharmaceutical group raised its dividend for last year and got 2024 off to a good start. Biotech company Destiny Pharma is reviewing how it can “maximize the value” of your nasal gel.
It hopes a trial will lead to a licensing deal for a treatment to prevent post-surgical infections, and cut losses to £6.4m last year, down from £7.7m in 2022. It fell 22.1 per cent, or 4.75 pence, at 16.75 p.
Business was tough for Travis Perkins after sales fell 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, but shares in the builder’s merchants rose 1 per cent, or 7p, to 719.5p.
Brick maker Ibstock had a slow start to the year as construction activity was weak and sales were worse than expected due to rain. It fell 1.9 per cent, or 2.8p, to 147p.
Durham technology group Kromek, which makes products to identify cancer and “dirty bombs”, will receive £2.3m from a US federal agency for its nuclear security equipment. It rose 7.1 per cent, or 0.5p, to 7.5p.