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Mar 23, 2018
Could Facebook Face a $1 Trillion Fine?

Could Facebook Face a $1 Trillion Fine?

Technically speaking, Facebook could actually face up to a $2 trillion fine.

Here’s how. Many readers have probably heard the story of how Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of 50 million Facebook users for political operations. Shady stuff, sure, but also potentially against the rules.

The Federal Trade Commission has a rule known as the “consent decree,” which states that users must explicitly give their consent if data about them is to be shared beyond the scope of what’s covered in their privacy settings. In this case, it seems fairly clear that sharing personal data with a third-party data firm (Cambridge Analytica) – whose goal it was to use the information to influence people for political reasons – violates the consent decree.

That’s where the numbers start to add up in a big way. According to the Washington Post, if Facebook is found to have violated the FTC consent decree, it could be fined up to $40,000 per violation. Multiply that figure by 50 million users, and you get your whopping $2 trillion fine.

No analyst really expects the fines to reach that level, or anywhere close to it. But the point is that Facebook could not only be facing substantial fines for this “breach of trust” (as Mark Zuckerberg put it), but they could also be at the cusp of heavy-handed regulatory action about how their company does business.

 

 

For all of these reasons, Facebook’s stock has taken a hit in the days following the story, wiping some $50 billion from their market cap in just two trading days. If the fallout continues and the government regulates Facebook in such a way that their revenue model is upended, it could potentially have a material impact on the stock going forward.

If you own Facebook stock or are interested in how the stock behaves from here, you should consider using algorithms to trace its movements in the coming weeks and months. You can do so easily with the help of Tickeron’s Pattern Search Engine, an Artificial Intelligence-driven tool that analyzes price movements to locate patterns in the stock market and to generate trade ideas.

So, if you’re wondering, could Facebook be headed for more days of losses, or perhaps it’s ready to rebound quickly once it hits a support level? Use Artificial Intelligence to help you answer those questions, on tickeron.com.  

Related Ticker: META

Contributor

Sergey Savastiouk, Ph.D. has a degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow University and has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, investor, manager, and mathematician. His professional expertise is in applied mathematics, mathematical modeling, system and pattern analysis, and software and hardware system integration. He has served as the CEO of several hi-tech start-up companies and nonprofit organizations, which has given him proven capabilities in business strategy for high-tech start-up companies, market assessment, company formation, team building, product development, marketing, and sales. He has published numerous articles in journals and magazines on related fields. As a retail investor, he spent 15 years developing his proprietary trading and quantitative algorithms (now Tickeron’s A.I.), which brought him significant returns in trading the stock market. His current work and goal in founding Tickeron is to bring professional, sophisticated stock market analysis capabilities to retail investors via an easy-to-use interface.


META's MACD Histogram just turned positive

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for META turned positive on August 26, 2026. Looking at past instances where META's MACD turned positive, the stock continued to rise in 41 of 50 cases over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are 82%.

Price Prediction Chart

Technical Analysis (Indicators)

Bullish Trend Analysis

The Momentum Indicator moved above the 0 level on August 31, 2026. You may want to consider a long position or call options on META as a result. In 59 of 85 past instances where the momentum indicator moved above 0, the stock continued to climb. The odds of a continued upward trend are 69%.

META moved above its 50-day moving average on September 03, 2026 date and that indicates a change from a downward trend to an upward trend.

The 10-day moving average for META crossed bullishly above the 50-day moving average on September 10, 2026. This indicates that the trend has shifted higher and could be considered a buy signal. In 7 of 15 past instances when the 10-day crossed above the 50-day, the stock continued to move higher over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are 47%.

Following a +3.29% 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where META advanced for three days, in 233 of 323 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are 72%.

Bearish Trend Analysis

The RSI Indicator demonstrates that the ticker has stayed in the overbought zone for 3 days. The longer the ticker stays in the overbought zone, the sooner a price pull-back is expected.

The Stochastic Oscillator demonstrated that the ticker has stayed in the overbought zone for 7 days. The longer the ticker stays in the overbought zone, the sooner a price pull-back is expected.

Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where META declined for three days, the price rose further in 50 of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are 59%.

META broke above its upper Bollinger Band on September 09, 2026. This could be a sign that the stock is set to drop as the stock moves back below the upper band and toward the middle band. You may want to consider selling the stock or exploring put options.

Fundamental Analysis (Ratings)

The Tickeron Valuation Rating of 18 (best 1 - 100 worst) indicates that the company is slightly undervalued in the industry. This rating compares market capitalization estimated by our proprietary formula with the current market capitalization. This rating is based on the following metrics, as compared to industry averages: P/B Ratio (6.489) is normal, around the industry mean (5.870). P/E Ratio (25.070) is within average values for comparable stocks, (27.857). Projected Growth (PEG Ratio) (0.881) is also within normal values, averaging (27.642). Dividend Yield (0.003) settles around the average of (0.047) among similar stocks. P/S Ratio (7.485) is also within normal values, averaging (93.646).

The Tickeron SMR rating for this company is 34 (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating strong sales and a profitable business model. SMR (Sales, Margin, Return on Equity) rating is based on comparative analysis of weighted Sales, Income Margin and Return on Equity values compared against S&P 500 index constituents. The weighted SMR value is a proprietary formula developed by Tickeron and represents an overall profitability measure for a stock.

The Tickeron Price Growth Rating for this company is 44 (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating steady price growth. META’s price grows at a higher rate over the last 12 months as compared to S&P 500 index constituents.

The Tickeron Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for this company is 46 (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating well-balanced risk and returns. The average Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for the industry is 94, placing this stock slightly better than average.

The Tickeron PE Growth Rating for this company is 54 (best 1 - 100 worst), pointing to consistent earnings growth. The PE Growth rating is based on a comparative analysis of stock PE ratio increase over the last 12 months compared against S&P 500 index constituents.

Notable companies

The most notable companies in this group are Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT), Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS), Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME), Pinterest (NYSE:PINS), Snap (NYSE:SNAP), Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z).

Industry description

Companies in this industry typically license software on a subscription basis and it is centrally hosted. Such products usually go by the names web-based software, on-demand software and hosted software. Cloud computing has emerged as a major force in this space, making it possible to save files to a remote database (without requiring them to be saved on local storage device); as long as a device has access to the web, it can access the data and the software programs to run it. This has in many cases facilitated cost efficiency, speed and security of data for businesses and consumers. Alphabet Inc., Facebook, Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. are some well-known names in the internet software/services industry.

Market Cap

The average market capitalization across the Internet Software/Services Industry is 146.59B. The market cap for tickers in the group ranges from 2.69K to 4.25T. GOOGL holds the highest valuation in this group at 4.25T. The lowest valued company is STBXF at 2.69K.

High and low price notable news

The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the Internet Software/Services Industry was -2%. For the same Industry, the average monthly price growth was -5%, and the average quarterly price growth was -3%. SLE experienced the highest price growth at 17%, while SJ experienced the biggest fall at -30%.

Volume

The average weekly volume growth across all stocks in the Internet Software/Services Industry was 43%. For the same stocks of the Industry, the average monthly volume growth was -14% and the average quarterly volume growth was -34%

Fundamental Analysis Ratings

The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows

Valuation Rating: 45
P/E Growth Rating: 73
Price Growth Rating: 61
SMR Rating: 77
Profit Risk Rating: 93
Seasonality Score: -17 (-100 ... +100)
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