iWorld
Facebook parent Meta posts its first-ever revenue decline in Q2
Mumbai: Facebook parent company, Meta, on Thursday announced a decline in the company’s revenues in its second quarter earnings 2022 for the first time since it went public in 2012. The tech major reported a drop in revenues from $29.08 billion to $28.82 billion, down one per cent over last year.
Meta also announced that its chief finance officer (CFO) David Wehner would now take over the role of chief strategy officer (CSO) and oversee the company’s strategy and corporate development.
The company announced that Susan Li, currently vice president of finance, will replace him as CFO. The transitions will be effective from 1 November.
The social media network’s net income saw a decline of 36 per cent in April-June, falling from $10.39 billion ($3.61 per share) to $6.69 billion ($2.46 per share) year-on-year (YoY).
“We seem to have entered an economic downturn that will have a broad impact on the digital advertising business,” said Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an earnings call on Wednesday. “It’s always hard to predict how deep or how long these cycles will be, but I’d say that the situation seems worse than it did a quarter ago.”
The social media giant also issued a bleak third-quarter forecast. “This outlook reflects a continuation of the weak advertising demand environment we experienced throughout the second quarter, which we believe is being driven by broader macroeconomic uncertainty,” chief finance officer David Wehner said in a statement.
“We have reduced our hiring and overall expense growth plans this year to account for the more challenging operating environment while continuing to direct resources toward our company priorities,” he added.
The company expects its 2022 total expenses to be in the range of $85-88 billion, lowered from its prior outlook of $87-92 billion, Wehner further stated.
Meta’s worrying results follow a pattern reflected in the results of other major tech companies and its rivals, Snap and Twitter – both of whom reported disappointing second-quarter numbers last week, during an unprecedented stressful period across the industry. The results also follow a broader decline in the digital advertising market.
Advertising revenue growth slowed throughout the second quarter as advertiser demand softened, Wehner stated. “The deceleration has been broad-based across verticals, and we believe businesses are lowering their advertising spend in response to the increased economic uncertainty.”
Earlier on Wednesday, another tech major and Google parent company- Alphabet posted a 13 per cent growth in consolidated revenue at $69.7 billion for the second quarter – its slowest quarterly growth in two years.
Meta also faces its own unique challenges of competing with TikTok, while focusing on its next phase of building the immersive metaverse.
In this environment, we’re focused on making the long-term investments that will position us to be stronger coming out of this downturn — including our work on our discovery engine and Reels, our new ads infrastructure, and the metaverse, stated Zuckerberg. The company is also focused on being rigorous about measuring returns and sizing these investments correctly, he added.
iWorld
Prime Video unveils trailer for Tamil series Exam, streaming May 15
Dushara Vijayan, Aditi Balan headline scam thriller set in exam world
CHENNAI: Prime Video has dropped the official trailer of its upcoming Tamil Original series Exam, a high-stakes suspense drama set in the murky world of competitive entrance exams.
Backed by creative producers Pushkar and Gayatri under Wallwatcher Films, the seven-episode series is written and directed by National Award-winner A. Sarkunam. It stars Dushara Vijayan and Aditi Balan in lead roles, with Abbas playing a pivotal character.
Set in the fictional town of Thykara, the series follows Jhansi, played by Dushara Vijayan, as she attempts to expose a deep-rooted scam, aided by her mentor Jayachandran, played by Abbas. Standing in her way is DSP Maramalli, portrayed by Aditi Balan, setting up a tense face-off driven by ambition, pressure and moral choices.
The show will stream from May 15 on Prime Video in India and across more than 240 countries and territories. It will be available in Tamil, with dubbed versions in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada, along with subtitles in 15 languages.
Writer-director A. Sarkunam said the story aims to resonate across geographies and social strata, going beyond the scam to explore ambition, pressure and the consequences of personal choices. He added that the narrative unfolds through the intersecting journeys of Jhansi and Maramalli, building tension as their worlds collide.
Dushara Vijayan described Jhansi as a fierce and determined character, calling the role both demanding and rewarding, with the story capturing the difficult choices her character must make.
Aditi Balan said the series offers a hard-hitting look at the exam ecosystem, adding that her character is layered and shaped by both internal conflict and external pressures.
Abbas, marking his return to mainstream Tamil entertainment, said the series stands out for its layered storytelling and unpredictable twists, with his character adding depth to the central narrative.
With its mix of suspense, social commentary and character-driven storytelling, Exam is shaping up to be a tense watch as it dives into one of India’s most high-pressure systems.
