Don't tell Mark Zuckerberg: investors have already discovered the metaverse
New York (CNN Business)The company formerly known as Facebook is now calling itself Meta Platforms. But investors looking to cash in on the virtual world known as the metaverse already have plenty of other options besides Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant.
Gaming platform Roblox, which lets users generate their own avatars and play games created by other players, is arguably the most high-profile metaverse stock. Shares of the company have soared almost 160% since it listed directly on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year.
And with a market cap of nearly $65 billion, Roblox is now worth more than established video game giants Electronic Arts (EA) and scandal-ridden Activision Blizzard (ATVI).
Gaming software firm Unity Software, another metaverse player, just reported impressive earnings and the stock rose on the news.
Unity also recently announced plans to acquire technology firm Weta Digital, a visual effects studio founded by "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson, for more than $1.6 billion to further enhance its metaverse offerings.
Companies ranging from Playboy owner PLBY Group and body camera maker Axon (AAXN) to record label Warner Music Group and media giant Disney (DIS) all discussed the metaverse in earnings calls during the past few weeks.
PLBY mentioned the possibility of virtual parties with "Rabbitars" at a metaverse Playboy mansion, for example, while Axon talked about the growing threat of fraud, theft and other digital crime in virtual worlds.
"The metaverse is at the cusp of drastically changing the gaming industry, and eventually others," said analysts at Manhattan Venture Research in a recent report.
Chip giants such as Nvidia (NVDA) and Qualcomm (QCOM) are poised to make money from the metaverse too, as their 5G chips and graphics processors will help power the increased push into virtual worlds.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said during an investor presentation Tuesday that the company wants to be "the ticket to the metaverse."
There's even a metaverse ETF (trading under the ticker symbol META) that holds Roblox and Unity as well as Nvidia and Qualcomm, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and, yes, Meta Platforms.
The Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF has surged more than 13% in the past month, topping the broader market — and Meta Platforms — during the same time frame.
Still, even though Facebook isn't the first company to embrace the metaverse, one analyst says that the platform's recent pivot to virtual worlds is probably a big reason why the metaverse has gotten so much more attention lately.
"The Facebook rebrand has brought the metaverse concept to a wider audience," Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said in a report. "With other firms cottoning on, it is clear that the idea and the principle of a whole new world of services and experiences does promise a new way to expand revenues."
不要告诉马克扎克伯格：投资者已经发现了元宇宙
纽约（CNN 商业）这家前身为 Facebook 的公司现在称自己为 Meta Platforms。但是，除了马克·扎克伯格 (Mark Zuckerberg) 的社交媒体巨头之外，希望在虚拟世界中获利的投资者已经有了很多其他选择。
游戏平台 Roblox 可以让用户生成自己的头像并玩其他玩家创建的游戏，可以说是最受瞩目的元节股票。自今年早些时候在纽约证券交易所直接上市以来，该公司股价已飙升近 160%。
凭借近 650 亿美元的市值，Roblox 现在的价值超过了老牌电子游戏巨头电子艺界 (EA) 和丑闻缠身的动视暴雪 (ATVI)。
另一家 Metaverse 玩家游戏软件公司 Unity Software 刚刚公布了令人印象深刻的收益，股价因消息而上涨。
Unity 最近还宣布计划以超过 16 亿美元的价格收购技术公司 Weta Digital，这是一家由《指环王》导演彼得杰克逊创立的视觉效果工作室，以进一步增强其元宇宙产品。
过去几周，从花花公子所有者 PLBY 集团和随身相机制造商 Axon (AAXN) 到唱片公司华纳音乐集团和媒体巨头迪士尼 (DIS) 等公司都在财报电话会议上讨论了元宇宙。
例如，PLBY 提到了在 Metaverse 花花公子大厦与“Rabbitars”进行虚拟聚会的可能性，而 Axon 则谈到了虚拟世界中欺诈、盗窃和其他数字犯罪日益增长的威胁。
曼哈顿风险研究公司的分析师在最近的一份报告中表示：“元宇宙正处于彻底改变游戏行业以及最终其他行业的风口浪尖。”
英伟达 (NVDA) 和高通 (QCOM) 等芯片巨头也准备从元宇宙中赚钱，因为他们的 5G 芯片和图形处理器将有助于推动越来越多的人进入虚拟世界。
高通公司首席执行官克里斯蒂亚诺·阿蒙在周二的投资者演讲中表示，该公司希望成为“进入元界的门票”。
甚至还有一个包含 Roblox 和 Unity 以及 Nvidia 和高通、微软 (MSFT)、亚马逊 (AMZN) 以及，是的，Meta Platforms 的 Metaverse ETF（交易代码为 META）。
Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF 在过去一个月飙升了 13% 以上，在同一时间段内超过了大盘和 Meta 平台。
尽管如此，尽管 Facebook 不是第一家接受元节的公司，但一位分析师表示，该平台最近转向虚拟世界可能是元节最近受到如此多关注的一个重要原因。
IG 首席市场分析师 Chris Beauchamp 在一份报告中表示：“Facebook 的品牌重塑将元节概念带给了更广泛的受众。” “随着其他公司的加入，很明显，一个全新的服务和体验世界的理念和原则确实有望提供一种扩大收入的新方式。”
