Meta/Facebook stock plummets 20% following dismal earnings report

Shares in Meta (formerly Facebook) plummeted 20% in premarket trading Thursday following the Big Tech company's announcement of suboptimal earnings numbers.

The company is pinning its worse-than-expected numbers on changes made to Apple's privacy rules and increased competition in the field. Meta reported a decline in daily active users as such platforms as TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, pose increasing competition in the social media world.

Later on Thursday, Amazon will reveal its earnings, which could potentially send a second wave of ripples across global markets.

The market had a tumultuous January that is now being further compounded by the surprise of the tech selloff. The Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rates will likely also create market volatility in the near future.

Heavyweight European indices took hits in the 1.5% range as tech markets dipped. U.S. stock futures for the tech dominant Nasdaq index fell by 2.4%.