Social media giant Facebook Inc. cautioned on Tuesday a huge jump in its spending next year and forecasted lagging revenue growth in the fourth quarter which cut 10 percent of its market value.
The increased spending plans revealed the company's weaknesses and wavering support from investors who have given the social media company its full support for the past year.
Facebook faced growing concerns from investors over expensive, multi-billion dollar purchases like WhatsApp and Oculus. Shares of the company reached an all-time high of $81.16 on Tuesday before it reported its Q3 results.
Chief Financial Officer Dave Wehner revealed through a conference call to analysts that Facebook is aiming for a 55 to 75 percent increase in its expenses in 2015,when it is still currently working on to develop current acquisitions WhatsApp and Oculus have yet to show profit.
The company's costs and expenses for the first nine months of 2013 went up 32 percent. However, it did not disclose estimates if its expected revenue growth in 2015 which worries investors.
"Giving expense guidance without giving revenue guidance is frustrating and spooking The Street," according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield.
"The multi-billion dollar question is what's revenue growth going to look like next year," he added.
However, Facebook CEO Wehner revealed revenue growth of 40 to 47 percent in Q4 this year-down from 59 percent in the third quarter, reportedly caused by several factors including millions of dollars in losses from WhatsApp.
"For us products don't get that interesting until they have about a billion people using them, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg noted as the company is reportedly not in a rush to get its return-of-investment from the product.
Shares of Facebook, up roughly 47 percent this year, slid nearly 9 percent to $73.80 in extended trading on Tuesday.
