The latest trend in tech is the metaverse.
When Facebook announced a corporate name change to Meta Platforms Inc. (ticker: FB) in October 2021, many investors began to anticipate just how transformative the metaverse could be. The metaverse concept is about building integrated virtual online environments in which people live, work and play. A real-life “Matrix” may seem like science fiction, but the ideas of self-driving cars, smartphones or even the internet itself were all science fiction concepts at one point. The global metaverse market could grow to $800 billion by the mid-2020s, according to Bank of America. Here are seven metaverse stocks to buy today.
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is so committed to shifting the company’s priority to the metaverse that he changed the name of the company. Zuckerberg announced an initial $10 billion investment in metaverse development, and Meta recently received many patents related to technology that uses metaverse users’ biometric data to help generate what they see and perceive in the virtual world. Meta’s Oculus and Horizon virtual reality subsidiaries will also likely play a large role in its metaverse push. The company plans to monetize the metaverse via virtual commerce and advertising revenue streams.
Unity Software Inc. (U)
Unity Software owns one of the two main 3D video game engines, which allows designers to customize how video game players move and interact within their games. The company’s non-gaming business serves the industrial, architectural, animation and engineering industries as well. In November, Unity acquired parts of Weta Digital, the visual effects studio that helped create the “The Lord of the Rings” movies. “What we want to try to do is have your average 14-year-old to be able to do what Peter (Jackson) did in creating Gollum and putting that character in the metaverse,” Unity CEO John Riccitiello said of the deal.
Roblox Corp. (RBLX)
Roblox is an online entertainment platform that allows users to develop games. The platform may be the closest thing to a functioning metaverse today. Roblox is essentially a video game that has about 50 million daily active users, its own digital currency and a range of unique virtual experiences. Roughly half its user base is under the age of 13, placing the company in a good position for the future. “Our whole company is really focused on the innovation to drive and shepherd this vision of what some people call the metaverse — or human co-experience — forward,” Roblox CEO David Baszucki recently told CNBC.
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK)
Autodesk makes software used to design buildings and goods. Engineers and architects use the company’s Revit building information modeling program to create virtual models of structures, and Autodesk Rendering can transform those models into a virtual reality setting. About 70% of Autodesk’s business comes from design software for architecture, engineering and construction, or AEC. Autodesk has a suite of products designed specifically for building virtual reality and augmented reality 3D animations and buildings, a perfect fit for metaverse construction. In the third quarter, Autodesk’s total billings increased 16%, and AEC segment revenue grew 22% to $511.1 million.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Microsoft may be the early leader in the professional metaverse. The Microsoft enterprise metaverse aims to integrate the “internet of things,” digital twins and mixed reality to help Microsoft grow its professional software market dominance. The company also made an aggressive move into the social metaverse space on Jan. 18, when it announced a pending deal to acquire video game giant Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) for $69 billion. The Activision deal would give Microsoft instant access to 400 million monthly active gamers, some of whom already spend money in the digital world. The company’s growing cloud business also gives it major metaverse network scale advantages.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
Nvidia produces the graphics and video processing chips used in high-end computing servers, supercomputers, and artificial intelligence and VR applications. The metaverse will certainly require a massive amount of processing power, and Nvidia chips will likely play a critical role. In November, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that the metaverse can save money and resources by simulating factories, plants, power grids and other infrastructure products before they are constructed in the real world. “By doing that, we could decrease the amount of waste, and that’s the reason why the economics are so good for companies,” Huang said.
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM)
At the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show, chipmaker Qualcomm announced a new collaboration with Microsoft to develop technology to expand consumer and enterprise adoption of augmented reality. On the company’s third-quarter earnings call in November, CEO Cristiano Amon said Qualcomm’s Snapdragon semiconductor products will dominate the next generation of the internet of things and the metaverse. Snapdragon already powers a number of cutting-edge augmented and virtual reality devices, such as Meta Platform’s Oculus Quest headset. “If you are going to spend time in the Metaverse, Snapdragon is going to be your ticket,” Amon said.
The 7 top metaverse stocks to invest in:
— Meta Platforms Inc. (FB)
— Unity Software Inc. (U)
— Roblox Corp. (RBLX)
–Autodesk Inc. (ADSK)
— Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
— Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
— Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM)
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The 7 Best Metaverse Stocks to Buy originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 01/27/22: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
