Can Mark Zuckerberg 'Catch Lightning In A Bottle' Again? Here's Why This Investor Is Avoiding Meta's Stock

Meta Platforms Inc FB is on pace for its worst one-day decline in history following the company's weak earnings results. Ritholtz Wealth Management's Josh Brown thinks there is an even bigger issue at play.

"You really have to bet that Mark Zuckerberg can build a brand new business from scratch the way that he once did with Facebook," Brown said Thursday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."

See Also: Meta Platforms (Facebook) Q4 Earnings Takeaways: Big EPS Miss, Revenue Beat, New Ticker

Much of the company's continued success has been driven by its acquisitions of competing social media platforms like Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg didn't build Instagram or WhatsApp as he did with Facebook, Brown noted.

Meta Investors are betting on Zuckerberg's ability to build another platform from scratch, but this time in the metaverse, Brown said: "Can he build another one? Because that's what this metaverse thing really requires."

Brown acknowledged Zuckerberg has the cash flow and foundation in place to invest in the buildout, but it's still a daunting task, even for the Facebook co-founder.

Can Zuckerberg catch lightning in a bottle a second time? Apple Inc AAPL co-founder Steve Jobs was able to do it, but "very few people have been able to do that twice," Brown emphasized.

Meta mentioned it could potentially see losses from metaverse-related investments for another 10 to 15 years, but the core Facebook business "right now, is not in great shape."

"It's a tough situation," Brown said. "I'm not saying I would never buy it, I'm just not going to buy it here."

FB Price Action: Meta is making new 52-week lows in Thursday's session.

The stock was down 25.3% at $241.35 at time of publication.

Photo: Anthony Quintano from Flickr.