As Zuckerberg bets on TikTok-style videos, Meta heads for first-ever revenue drop

FILE PHOTO: Men take selfies in front of a sign of Meta, the new name for the company formerly known as Facebook, at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S. October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD

(Reuters) - Meta's future may lie in the metaverse, but when the company reports results on Wednesday, investors will be focused on two more immediate bets: pumping up short-video offering Reels to compete with TikTok and rebuilding its ads system after Apple throttled access to user data.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg believes that will take time, and that the company needs to speed up the process, he told staffers on a call late last month. The discussion hit on key issues that will be watched in Meta's quarterly results release on Wednesday.