Facebook shares close down 19% after a growth warning

] Facebook shares fell sharply on Thursday after social media The network warned investors to slow revenue gains and increase spending.

The firm's shares closed close to 19% lower, erasing more than $ 120 billion from the market value of Facebook

. the stock index, which closed 1% lower.

Facebook's prediction came as the company faces a reaction on its treatment of fake news and user data

is trying to improve the way it monitors the content, follows the advertisers and processes user data – areas where it was subject to regulatory oversight

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Facebook, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, said its margins to around 30%, compared to around 44% in the last quarter.

Despite the growth of more than 40% of Facebook 's turnover in the last quarter, Facebook appeared to infect other technology stocks.

Twitter, which has faced similar criticisms of Facebook and is expected to report quarterly results to investors Friday, closed down nearly 3%.

Other companies were more resilient.

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Alphabet, owner of Google and YouTube, has less than 1% less (0.75%), while Spotify music streaming service has grown by nearly 4.5% after growing faster than expected. 19659005] Most factors affecting Facebook are peculiar to the company, said Daniel Ives, director of strategy at GBH Insights

The company has been in the spotlight for its involvement in the data society Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook has also changed the news feed to highlight messages from family and friends, tweaks that general manager Mark Zuckerberg had previously warned would affect profitability.

BTIG Research badyst Richard Greenfield wrote in a note that investors "overreact."

He said that Facebook remained a rich opportunity for advertisers, and that the investments he was making were expected to lead to long-term growth. "We were very stressed during the Facebook conference call in Q2 2018 and could feel the fear / panic of investors afterwards," he writes.

However, he added: "Mobile is eating the world and Facebook is an essential base to benefit from this change."