What happened
Shares of Facebook (META 1.54%) were hit hard on Wednesday, falling as much as 5.2%. As of 3:15 p.m. EDT, the stock was down 4.8%.
The tech stock's decline was likely primarily due to a bearish day in the overall stock market. But the pullback may also have been driven in part by representatives from Facebook, Alphabet (GOOG 0.37%) (GOOGL 0.35%) (TWTR), and Twitter testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Image source: Facebook.
So what
Amid the negative overall sentiment on Wall Street Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down about 3% as of this writing. Some investors were spooked as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surged in the U.S.
But Facebook faced its own challenges on Wednesday as CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified at a Senate hearing. The representatives of the tech giants had to answer some tough questions, perhaps raising concerns about the negative side effects of the scrutiny that comes with these companies' massive influence.
Now what
Investors will get another update on Facebook's business tomorrow afternoon. The social network is slated to report third-quarter earnings after market close on Thursday.
The pandemic has weighed on Facebook's ad revenue. Investors are likely hoping for a slight acceleration in ad revenue in Q3 compared with the 11% growth Facebook delivered in Q2.
