In fact, this is one of those truisms about the "down" side of the classical business cycle - that recessions partly function as an excuse to cut inefficiencies. How accurate this truism is, I don't know.

Proof is that Meta stock is up today. I don't like this system of value, but it's what we've got.

Today's price action is rarely a reflection of today's news.

"trimming the fat" - this is such an unfortunate phrase. In evolutionary terms, fat is what let species survive lean periods.

and in modern terms it makes you a social pariah. Really though trimming the fat probably refers to a butcher removing the unwanted flesh from meat, not losing weight.

Spot on. The clue it’s not about evolution is that you don’t “trim” fat from a live animal.

This is a lean period, and the fat that meta had enabled them to cut fat rather than cut muscle or bone, making them now more lean, but still strong. The fat they had served its purpose similar to how fat serves its purpose during famine.