In this article, we will discuss the 5 most ambitious metaverse companies in the world. You can see our detailed discussion regarding the metaverse industry, its dynamics, and its future outlook, by going to the 13 Most Ambitious Metaverse Companies in the World.
5. Linden Lab
Market Capitalization: N/A
Linden Lab is an American technology company that is best known as the creator of Second Life, a multimedia platform that allows users to create their own world. Second Life is one of the largest and most successful virtual worlds to date. As of 2021, over 900,000 creators around the world are involved in the continuous development of the platform, making new content and experiences. Users of Second Life, also known as residents, earn profits from selling digital assets on the platform’s marketplace.
The company wholly owns Tilia, a licensed money transmitter and registered money services business. Tilia was developed for processing payments and providing financial services to the Second Life Community in compliance with U.S. laws and regulations through Tilia Pay. This January, Tilia announced a strategic collaboration with Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:U) to support virtual economies for game and metaverse developers.
On January 14, 2022, Philip Rosedale, the founder of Linden Lab, announced that he will be rejoining the company as a strategic advisor to guide Second Life’s journey into the metaverse. Philip Rosedale pioneered what has recently been hyped by Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB). Mr. Rosedale incorporated metaverse concepts which include digital identity, virtual real estate, digital economies and online multiplayer ecosystems in 2003, when Second Life was released.
4. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Market Capitalization: $693.96 Billion
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) provides graphics and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, and internationally. The company designs graphics processing units for the gaming and professional markets, as well as systems on chip units for the mobile computing and automotive market.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the most ambitious metaverse companies in the world. The company’s flagship metaverse product is the NVIDIA Omniverse, a platform that enables businesses to bring together various digital assets and simulate production processes in a virtual environment in real-time. According to NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), their Omniverse is being used by experts at over 500 companies, including Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP), and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) are using the platform to build physically accurate digital twins and develop realistic immersive experiences for customers. Since the launch of its open beta in December, Omniverse has been downloaded by over 150,000 individual creators.
On March 29, 2022, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth raised his price target on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) to $410 from $400 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.
As of March 24, 2022, Fisher Asset Management is the most prominent shareholder in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) having stakes of more than $1.50 billion in the company. The investment covers 0.84% of Fisher Asset Management’s 13F portfolio.
Vulcan Value Partners, an investment management firm, published its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter in which it mentioned NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Here’s what experts at Vulcan Value Partners had to say:
“NVIDIA Corp. was a material contributor during the quarter. We have discussed NVIDIA at length in previous quarters. Its products are at the intersection of a number of important computing trends including the movement to the Cloud, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, edge computing, gaming, and now, the Metaverse. The company continues to outperform expectations, growing its revenue and free cash flow significantly throughout 2021, and in turn, its value is compounding quickly.”
3. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Market Capitalization: $1.68 Trillion
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has integrated metaverse technology into its marketplace. The company offers an AR shopping tool that allows users to visualize furniture in their rooms before making a purchase. On March 15, 2022, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) launched an online role-playing game, AWS Cloud Quest, which enables players to develop cloud-computing skills. Users solve cloud-computing puzzles and quests in order to earn points while walking through a virtual world. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a renowned as an e-commerce giant worldwide and is expected to dominate the e-commerce sector within the metaverse.
On March 29, 2022, Exane BNP Paribas analyst Stefan Slowinski initiated coverage of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) with an Underperform rating and a $2,800 price target.
As of March 25, 2022, Ken Fisher led Fisher Asset Management is the most prominent stakeholder in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) having stakes of over $7.22 billion in the e-commerce giant. The investment accounts for 4.04% of the fund’s 13F portfolio.
Here’s what Davis Funds had to say about Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“Within the traditional growth category, growing euphoria has led to bubble prices for many companies, most especially those with new and unproven business models such as those discussed above. In contrast, our research focuses on a select handful of proven growth stalwarts whose shares still trade at reasonable valuations. For example, because of concerns about future litigation and regulation, several dominant internet businesses, including Amazon, trade at steep discounts to many unproven and unprofitable growth darlings that, in our view, trade at euphoric prices. While we expect a continued barrage of negative headlines around the company, as well as increased regulation in the years ahead, we do not expect a significant decline in its long-term profitability.”
2. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Market Capitalization: $1.87 Trillion
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) offers a range of AR and VR products already and is currently working on developing more products for the metaverse. The company’s most innovative extended reality project is Project Starline. This product uses the technological developments in machine learning, computer vision, spatial audio, and real-time compression to make virtual meetings feel like they are being held in person, without the use of a VR headset. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is instead developing a 65-inch 3D video booth to make this possible.
As of March 29, 2022, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has a market cap of $1.87 trillion and has gained 39.38% over the past twelve months.
On March 18, 2022, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth raised his price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to $3,670 from $3,540 and reiterated a Strong Buy rating.
According to Insider Monkey’s database, TCI Fund Management is the dominating shareholder in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) as of the close of Q4 2021. The fund’s stakes in the company are a whopping $8.54 billion, which represents 19.22% of TCI Fund Management’s investment portfolio.
Vulcan Value Partners, an investment management firm, published its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter in which it mentioned Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Here’s what the firm had to say:
“In contrast, we made a different kind of mistake about a decade ago. Google, now Alphabet, performed very well for us while we owned it. The company kept outperforming our assumptions and we kept lowering them to be conservative. “Trees do not grow to the sky.” The stock kept going up and our value grew but did not keep pace with the stock. It hit our estimate of fair value and we sold it with a nice gain, patting ourselves on the back. We kept following the company and what they actually did over the next several years was roughly double the assumptions we used to value it. Therefore, our value was too conservative, and we sold it too cheaply, missing many years of compounding. Fortunately, we experienced some volatility several years ago that allowed us to purchase Alphabet (Google) again with a margin of safety.”
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Market Capitalization: $2.28 Trillion
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is going head-to-head with Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) to build the metaverse. The company is developing future versions of Azure, Windows, Office365, and LinkedIn that will be based on AR and VR technologies. The company is pioneering holographic collaboration and is building Microsoft Mesh, which is a collaboration and communications platform that is aimed at unifying holographic virtual collaboration across multiple devices including VR headsets and AR devices such as laptops and smartphones. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) launched Azure Digital Twins which allows users to model physical objects and business operations and run simulations on them. This can help businesses optimize operations and reduce operating costs.
This February, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth raised his price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to $411 from $366 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares in light of the company’s “strong” earnings for FQ2 2022.
Fisher Asset Management is the largest stakeholder in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) as of March 29, 2022. The fund’s stakes in the company were valued at $9.02 billion, which makes up for 5.05% of Fisher Asset Management’s investment portfolio.
Here’s what Vulcan Value Partners had to say about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corp. was a material contributor during the quarter. It is one of the highest quality companies in the world. We believe it has tremendous competitive advantages in its consumer and commercial Microsoft Office products as well as in its server and tools and Azure divisions. Over the last several years, Microsoft has been implementing a successful transition from a traditional software license and maintenance revenue model to a subscription revenue model. The company remains competitively entrenched, produces strong free cash flow, and has a strong balance sheet.”
You can also take a look at 10 Best Virtual Reality Stocks to Buy and 10 Best Augmented Reality Stocks to Buy Now.
