Meta (formerly Facebook) sees stock value rise despite $13B in VR losses
Meta — formerly Facebook — reported positive news for ordinary investors but bad news for those interested in the company’s virtual reality (VR) division. February 1 earnings report.
The company generated substantial revenue, bringing in $32.17 billion in Q4 2022,116.61 billion annuallyDespite a year-over-year loss (4% in the fourth quarter and 1% for the full year), Meta’s fourth-quarter earnings were at the high end of estimates of $30 billion to $32.5 billion. previously predictedThe company also announced today a $40 billion share buyback.
The news had a positive impact on the value of META shares, rising 2.79% in one day. META rose from $148.01 to $153.12 over the past few hours.
Meta also reported that its Reality Labs division posted an operating loss of $4.28 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022 and an operating loss of $13.72 billion for the full year. According to CNBC’s report, the division’s decline in revenue is likely due to declining sales and the need for VR technology that can be used on its devices.
Reality Labs is responsible for Meta’s “Metaverse” products, including services like Horizon Worlds games and products like the Quest headset. Reality Labs will also be responsible for various artificial intelligence (AI) projects starting in 2022.
However, Reality Labs’ metaverse ambitions are best known in the crypto community for spurring the trend of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in virtual reality projects. Horizon Worlds features in-game tradable items and does not use NFTs as the basis for those items, although competing blockchain projects exploit similarities.
In Decentraland, a crypto-based VR world, MANA tokens increased by about 550% in November 2021, shortly after Meta announced its Metaverse plans at the end of October 2021. In Sandbox as well, his SAND tokens increased by 850% that month. Several mainstream companies have also started pursuing plans for the Metaverse and NFTs.
By 2022, the hype around this trend has died down and the above tokens have returned to baseline prices. Today’s news suggests that this trend may weaken further.
