Meta stock tumbles on Snap guidance, Abercrombie reports surprise loss, Apple shops for EA

Yahoo Finance Live looks at several stocks tied to today's trending industry stories, including companies impacted by the ongoing tech sell-off.

Video transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Welcome back, everyone. It is time for our triple play, the three tickers that we're keeping an eye on this afternoon. So my pick to get us started is Meta, with the ticker symbol, FB. Now it's been getting dragged down by Snap's forward guidance, that it was citing those macroeconomic pressures for the upcoming second quarter. As you can see, the stock down more than 8% in afternoon trading.

Now, Meta actually lost more than $53 billion in market value shortly after Snap made that announcement on guidance. That's more than the entire market value of Snap. But it also does put some pressure on Meta's investments, especially these long-term visions when it comes to the Metaverse starting to pay off. Now, the stock is down nearly 50% year to date.

Now, there's a lot of things weighing on Facebook. You have their daily active user base falling for the first time ever at the beginning of this year. They're also in the legal crosshairs, as Zuckerberg was named in a DC attorney general investigation over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Plus, just most recently, New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, trustee of the New York State's Common Retirement Fund, says the fund will vote against re-electing all directors at Meta and Twitter at their next annual meetings taking place on Wednesday. Now that's fulfilling to enforce safety standards when the racially motivated shooting in Buffalo was streamed live on their platforms. And that fund is the third largest public pension fund in the United States.

SEANA SMITH: Yeah, Rachelle, we know DiNapoli has been after Facebook for years, but this is interesting because there's nine Facebook board of directors-- nine Facebook directors who are up for re-election this year, one of them being CEO Mark Zuckerberg. So we'll see whether or not his calls gain any traction.

But you mentioned the bloodbath that we're seeing in so many of these social media names today, with Facebook off just over 8%. We just heard from Keith Fitz-Gerald at the top of the hour, saying that it could actually get worse in some of these names when it comes to this sector. So that's a little bit concerning when you take into account that Facebook is off, what, 46%, 47% since the start of the year.

Speaking of another name here that's being caught up in the selloff is Abercrombie. It's taking its biggest dive that we've seen since 2000, as higher inflation takes a bite out of their earnings. Now the retailer reporting a loss for its latest quarter and also lowering its annual outlook. One big reason-- free and raw material costs hitting margins. Abercrombie's revised outlook follows similar moves that we've heard from some of the other names in this sector.

Big names like Kohl's, Target, Walmart all showing signs, Dave, of slowing down. So we've talked about the fact that inflation, obviously, near all-time highs. This is weighing on investor sentiment, on consumer sentiment, and we're seeing that reflected in so many of these earnings reports that we're getting.

DAVE BRIGGS: But like those names you mentioned, Target, Walmart, and Kohl's, there is a positive-- and I'm always searching for it. And it's that those bloated inventories caused by the supply chains, they're going to leave for some deals. You're going to have the consumers going to have some deals over the summer and back to school. And an interesting note in there, they had their highest ever sales in the swim category in the quarter, which tells you, people are ready to travel.

SEANA SMITH: Yeah, and they're excited for the warmer weather.

DAVE BRIGGS: They are ready to spend and ready to get out. My play is EO-- EA, excuse me, video game publisher Electronic Arts, Inc, on reports they're actually shopping themselves around. The outlet, Puck, has suggested that Apple is actually in talks to buy EA. Walt Disney and Amazon are also reportedly in the mix. One report also suggested that EA had prior discussions with NBC Universal about a takeover before those talks fell apart.

We have seen consolidation in that industry, as you know, as of late, with Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard for $68 billion, which is still pending approval. And Sony also acquired Bungie. Electronic Arts makes the hugely popular games. You know, Apex Legends and Madden, they recently ended a 30-year partnership with FIFA. We'll see how that impacts them moving forward. EA stock, though, is up. Year to date, despite this broad selloff across all sectors, they are hanging onto gains on the day, up 2% on the day, Rachelle.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: I mean, you do find it interesting. Usually, when it comes to a lot of these gaming stocks and these gaming companies that come up, it's always all hands on deck, especially when you think of things like the Metaverse. Gaming seems to be that way in for a lot of these companies. And then you also have to keep in mind, it seems like Apple and Amazon's names always come up when there's some sort of acquisition. Just look at all the chatter that we saw around Peloton. Those are the names that popped up once again. So, definitely one to keep an eye on, an interesting one in the gaming space.

SEANA SMITH: Have plenty of cash on hand for it.

DAVE BRIGGS: It does make sense if you are EA to try to find a dance partner in this environment, though, right?