4 Monster Metaverse Stocks to Buy for the Long Haul
These days, it seems like every company has some grand ideas for the “metaverse,” which will merge the physical and digital worlds. Some companies are starting small by selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for virtual goods, while others are planning to build entire virtual worlds.
All that noise can make it hard to distinguish the hype from the reality. So today, I’ll take a look at four companies that could actually benefit from this secular trend and permanently transform how we interact with each other.
- Meta Platforms（FB.US）
A whopping 3.58 billion people already use at least one of its apps (Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp) every month. It’s reportedly sold over 10 million Quest 2 VR headsets over the past year, and it just launched Horizon Worlds — a VR world that will enable those headset users to interact with each other. It recently released its first pair of smart glasses, and it plans to launch more advanced AR headsets in the future.
As Meta puts all those pieces together, it will expand its reach far beyond PCs and mobile devices. People will eventually be visiting each other’s profiles in VR or using its AR tools to scan real-life objects. In other words, it could transform the entire world into one big computing platform.
2. Roblox（RBLX.US）
Roblox’s ambitions aren’t as grand as Meta’s, but they’re easier to understand. Roblox’s platform enables its users to create simple block-based environments and games for each other without any coding knowledge. It’s tremendously popular with children, and its creators can monetize their games with an in-game currency called Robux.
Roblox is a self-sufficient ecosystem because it relies on its audience of nearly 50 million daily active users to create and explore new virtual worlds. The expansion of that ecosystem will convince more companies to build their own worlds within Roblox’s universe to reach more consumers.
3.Microsoft (MSFT.US)
Microsoft is already a household name, and the company is showing strong interest in the Metaverse in order to prepare for the next stage of technological evolution. The world’s second largest company by market capitalization is working tirelessly to improve its cloud and business productivity services, which will be aligned with the Metaverse and cater to a variety of use cases. The company is working on two interesting services: a mixed reality platform called “Microsoft Mesh” and cloud services called “Microsoft Azure.”
Mesh will almost certainly enable Microsoft to give people the option of virtually collaborating with one another while working remotely and away from the office. This service is currently being integrated with the company’s Microsoft Teams platform, which allows users to interact with one another during trainings, meetings, and networking events by using avatars. With the growing popularity of hybrid working cultures, in which employees work from home some days and from the office on others, Microsoft’s Mesh service could be tailored to a wide range of use cases in the coming years. Similarly, the company’s Azure service is intended to provide individuals with the tools necessary to create digital simulations of real-world objects. Individuals could use this software to drive cost-effective planning and innovation.
4.WiMi Hologram (WIMI.US)
WiMi Hologram: Augmented reality company WiMi Hologram Cloud provides augmented reality services and products based on holographics to customers including those in advertising and entertainment. AR advertising and AR entertainment make up two of the company’s three reporting divisions.
It’s tempting to dismiss the metaverse as another hot tech buzzword that tethers existing technologies like multiplayer games, persistent online worlds, and virtual goods to the AR and VR markets.
However, the metaverse can fundamentally change how we interact with each other — as Meta, Roblox, Nintendo, and WiMi Hologram are now demonstrating. These efforts might not boost their near-term revenue, but they could help them eventually evolve into very different companies over the long term.
