Facebook's Stock Drops After Zuckerberg Apologizes
(CNN Money) -- Mark Zuckerberg's apology didn't stop the bleeding on Wall Street.
Facebook dipped 2.7% on Thursday after Zuckerberg made his first public comments since the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The New York Times and The Observer first reported Saturday that the data firm with ties to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign accessed information from 50 million Facebook users without their consent.
Facing intense pressure from lawmakers, shareholders and the site's users, Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and CEO, apologized for the scandal and said he would be "happy" to testify before Congress.
"This was a major breach of trust, and I'm really sorry that this happened," Zuckerberg told CNN's Laurie Segall in an interview Wednesday. "We have a basic responsibility to protect people's data, and if we can't do that then we don't deserve to have the opportunity to serve people," Zuckerberg said.
Related: Mark Zuckerberg has regrets: 'I'm really sorry that this happened'
"Our responsibility now is to make sure that this doesn't happen again."
Facebook has lost $59 billion in value since the report broke over the weekend. The company now has a $479 billion market value.
One analyst on Wall Street cut his price target for Facebook, which may have contributed to Thursday's decline.
"Facebook's current plight reminds us of eBay in 2004 -- an unstructured content business built on trust that lost that trust prior to implementing policies to add structure and process," Stifel analyst Scott Devitt wrote in a note to clients.
But many on Wall Street believe the crisis will blow over.
Macquarie Capital analyst Benjamin Schachter wrote in a note to clients Wednesday that Zuckerberg's apology was a positive step in restoring investor confidence.
"We do think that usage will be impacted, but it is entirely unclear if it will be meaningful," Schachter said. Facebook's "fundamental business model appears to be well intact."
—CNN's Matt Egan contributed to this story.
© Copyright 2018 CNN. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
