The company has lost investor confidence as it ramped up
spending and pivoted to the metaverse, the technology-focused hedge fund with a
0.1 percent stake said, and suggested a three-step plan.
Altimeter said annual free cash flow can be doubled to $40
billion if it cut headcount by at least 20 percent, trimmed capital expenditure
by at least $5 billion to $25 billion a year and capped annual investment in
the metaverse to $5 billion instead of the current $10 billion.
Meta has spent billions and hired thousands of employees
around the world to build the metaverse, which refers to a shared digital
environment that uses augmented or virtual reality technology to make it feel
more realistic.
But the company's dreams have fallen short as the Reality
Labs unit, which works on augmented and virtual reality, has continuously
reported staggering losses. It lost $5.8 billion in the first six months of the
year.
Altimeter said such huge investments "in an unknown
future is super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards".
Meta Platforms, which is set to report third-quarter results
on Wednesday after markets close, did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment.
Brad Gerstner, Altimeter's chair who encouraged aggressive
investment in artificial intelligence, said the firm wanted to engage with Meta
and did not have any demands.
The social media company had in June cut plans to hire
engineers by at least 30 percent, with Zuckerberg warning employees to brace
for an economic downturn.