When Facebook announced a corporate name change to Meta Platforms Inc. (ticker: META) in October 2021, many investors began to realize 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 as well. The global metaverse market could grow to $700 billion by 2030, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com.
Here are seven metaverse stocks to buy today:
— Meta Platforms Inc. (META)
— Roblox Corp. (RBLX)
— Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
— Unity Software Inc. (U)
— Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
— Adobe Inc. (ADBE)
— Autodesk Inc. (ADSK)
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Meta Platforms Inc. (META)
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is so committed to shifting the company’s priority to the metaverse that he completely changed the name of his social media giant Facebook to Meta Platforms in late 2021. Meta’s Reality Labs unit is responsible for developing the virtual reality and augmented reality technology that helps to create the metaverse. Unfortunately, Zuckerberg’s ambitious metaverse goal is off to a rough start. Reality Labs lost $9.4 billion in the first three quarters of 2022, and the company said it expects Reality Labs operating losses will “grow significantly year over year” in 2023. On the bright side, Metaverse investors who have faith in Zuckerberg’s long-term vision can scoop up META shares at a 55% discount to their price when Facebook announced its name change in October 2021.
Roblox Corp. (RBLX)
Roblox is an online entertainment platform that allows creators to develop games. It may be the closest thing to a functioning metaverse today. Roblox is essentially a video game that has more than 50 million daily active users, its own digital currency and a range of unique virtual experiences. Nearly half its user base is under the age of 13, potentially positioning the company very well for the future. “We’re very optimistic that long term, this type of technology is going to support people all around the world and in a wide range of ways of connecting and being together,” Roblox CEO David Baszucki recently said.
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. The Nvidia Omniverse is a real-time reference development platform used for building and operating metaverse applications. “The reason why the internet was so incredibly useful was that it’s literally one platform, one data platform, that an entire company can jump on,” CEO Jensen Huang recently said. “Omniverse is doing that for all the companies that deal with 3D data for the first time.”
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. In addition, Unity’s non-gaming business serves the industrial, architectural, animation and engineering industries. Unity CEO John Riccitiello says the metaverse will have millions of destinations accessed via headsets, glasses, computers, consoles and smartphones, and users will have different avatars for different worlds. “The world of the metaverse today goes beyond the science fiction of the 1990s,” Riccitiello recently said. After a difficult 2022, investors can now buy Unity shares at a more than 30% discount to their $52 initial public offering price in 2020.
[See: Best Tech Stocks to Buy in a Recession.]
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 and help Microsoft grow its professional software market dominance. The company’s fast-growing cloud business also gives it major metaverse network scale advantages. Microsoft could also make an aggressive move into the social metaverse space if it completes its pending acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), but that deal faces intense regulatory scrutiny. In October 2022, Microsoft announced a partnership with Meta Platforms that includes bringing Microsoft’s professional software and apps, such as Mesh for Microsoft Teams, to Meta’s Quest VR headsets.
Adobe Inc. (ADBE)
Creative content creation software specialist Adobe has been investing heavily in 3D and immersive technology. Adobe Substance 3D is a suite of tools and services that support 3D content creation. In October 2022, Adobe announced it is bringing its Substance 3D portfolio to Meta’s Quest platform. Adobe has also collaborated with Coca-Cola Co. (KO), “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, Nvidia, Nasdaq and other top brands to help them create unique 3D content and immersive digital experiences. “The metaverse and other immersive experiences will only succeed if they are feature-rich, personalized, engaging and have interactive content,” says Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president of Adobe Creative Cloud.
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK)
Autodesk provides 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 45% 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 13% to $575 million.
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7 Best Metaverse Stocks to Buy in 2023 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 01/26/23: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
