BENGALURU: Stiff competition from TikTok and Apple Inc’s privacy changes will remain a cause for concern for Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc in the near term, Wall Street analysts said.

At least 16 brokerages cut their price targets on Meta after the company reported its first-ever quarterly revenue drop on Wednesday, highlighting challenges faced by US companies from a stronger dollar and worries of an impending recession.

Shares of the company were down about 6% at $159.8, setting the Whatsapp owner on course to lose roughly $30 billion in market value for the day.

Last year, Meta’s valuation hit the trillion-dollar mark and ended the year at more than $900 billion.

Apple upended the digital ad industry when it introduced new iPhone privacy controls last year that made it harder for companies such as Meta and Snap Inc to target and measure ads on their apps.

That, coupled with TikTok’s aggressive growth, is worsening recessionary fears, according to analysts.