The Facebook owner plunged 26 percent on Thursday (Feb 3) on the back of woeful earnings results, and erased about US$251.3 billion (S$337.8 billion) in market value. That's the biggest wipeout in market value for any US company ever.

And while the stock could certainly bounce back in coming days, especially given the volatility that's gripped the technology sector this year, the mood on Wall Street has turned decidedly bleak on the long-time market darling.

Analysts are pointing to the stiff competition that Meta now faces from rivals and to the fact that revenue was below expectations as causes for concern. Michael Nathanson, an analyst at brokerage Moffett Nathanson, titled his note "Facebook: The Beginning of the End?"

"These cuts run deep," he wrote. The results were "a headline grabber and not in a good way."

The sheer size of Facebook's collapse illustrates just how tech companies have ballooned in size to become behemoths with unprecedented market power, and the drama that can ensue when they stumble.

"Lots of US megacaps are priced as growth stocks. They may suffer more in a rising yield environment, especially if growth becomes more questionable," said Frederic Rollin, senior investment advisor at Pictet Asset Management.

Meta "finds itself in the middle of a perfect storm," wrote Youssef Squali, an analyst at Truist Securities.