Metaverse Archives - Taking Stock

April 25, 2024September 12, 2025

Meta loses $200 billion in value despite good profits shown in latest figures

Meta Platforms Inc. suffered a serious loss, witnessing its market value plummet by $200 billion.

The decline happened following the company’s first-quarter earnings call, during which CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the company’s substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and the Metaverse, instead of concentrating on immediate revenue streams.

Despite a 27% increase in revenue to $36.46 billion and a net income that more than doubled to a $12.37 billion (rounded), investors were unsettled by the company’s projections for future expenses.

Shares dropped by 15.5% as Zuckerberg outlined expensive future projects, including the expansion of business messaging and the integration of ads into AI interactions.

Meta’s stock took a 15% hit in extended trading, bringing its market capitalization down to around $1.2 trillion, still a high valuation. This highlights the unpredictable nature of tech stocks, especially during significant, unmonetized product development stages.

Meta 1 day chart 24th April 2024

Zuckerberg’s prioritization of long-term growth over immediate profits is a gamble, placing a bet on AI and the Metaverse to transform digital interactions.

This strategy carries considerable financial risks, as the recent market reaction has shown. Meta’s future now depends on the successful deployment and monetization of these cutting-edge technologies.

January 5, 2024September 12, 2025

Is the Metaverse still a thing?

The metaverse is a hypothetical concept that has not yet been fully realized, but many experts and companies are working on developing it. Mark Zuckerberg is one of these ‘believers’.

Future challenge

The metaverse is quite likely to happen in the future, as technology advances and demand for immersive and interactive online experiences grows. Ai will help develop the metaverse at a greater speed.

However, there are also many challenges and uncertainties that could affect the development and adoption of the metaverse, such as interoperability, privacy, regulation, social issues, and user safety. Therefore, it is hard to predict when and how the metaverse will become a mainstream platform. Some estimates suggest that it could take another 10 to 15 years for the metaverse to reach its full potential.

What does Meta have to say about the Metaverse?

Meta and Mark Zuckerberg think that the metaverse is the next evolution of social technology and the successor to the mobile internet. They believe that the metaverse will enable people to feel present and connected with others in immersive and interactive digital spaces, where they can socialize, learn, work, play, and create. They also think that the metaverse will be a collaborative and open platform, where different companies and creators can build and interoperate with each other.

Product investment

Meta is investing heavily in developing the technologies and tools that will power the metaverse, such as virtual and augmented reality devices, software, and content.

Some of their products and initiatives include Meta Quest, Ray-Ban Stories, Horizon, Presence Platform, and Spark AR. Meta is also creating thousands of new jobs, supporting creators and developers, and building responsibly with privacy and safety in mind.

Vision

Mark Zuckerberg has shared his vision and enthusiasm for the metaverse in various interviews and events, such as the Protocol interview, Connect 2021 keynote and the Lex Fridman podcast.

He has also demonstrated some of the impressive features and capabilities of the metaverse, such as photorealistic avatars, mixed reality experiences, and NFTs. He has said that he wants Meta to be a social technology company that helps bring the metaverse to life together with the community.

Time will tell if the Metaverse really is the future. So far it has failed to fully establish the following as Facebook enjoyed in its early days.

Mark Zuckerberg and Meta will not give up and will likely make his version of the Metaverse a success, one way or another.

January 4, 2024September 12, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg sold nearly half a billion of Meta stock in November and December 2023

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and cofounder of Meta Platforms Inc., sold some $190 million worth of Meta shares in November 2023, and another $238 million in December 2023.

These were his first stock sales since 2021, when he sold $2.9 billion worth of shares.

Meta Platforms is one of the leading social media and technology companies in the world with its flagship platform Facebook.

Its stock price has surged by 166% in 2023, making it one of the best-performing stocks among the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ group of tech giants. Meta has also rebranded itself as a metaverse company, aiming to create a virtual reality platform that connects people across its various apps and devices.

Philanthropic – The Giving Pledge

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to donate 99% of their Meta shares to charitable causes during their lifetimes, as part of the Giving Pledge initiative started by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

They have also established the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organization that focuses on education, health, science, and justice.

October 2, 2023September 12, 2025

Zuckerberg announces chatbots with ‘personality.’ Wonder where the personality dynamic will come from? Charmed, I’m sure…

Meta has announced a series of new chatbots to be used in its Messenger service.

Charming

The chatbots will have ‘personality’ and specialise in certain subjects, like holidays, and cooking. Let’s hope they haven’t been modelled on the company boss then.

It is the latest attempt in a chatbot ‘chat’ race between tech’ companies desperate to produce more accurate and personalised artificial intelligence. The chatbots are still a work in progress with ‘limitations’, said boss Mark Zuckerberg.

During Meta’s first in-person event since before the pandemic, Mr Zuckerberg said that it had been an ‘amazing year for AI’. The company is calling its main chatbot ‘Meta AI’ and can be used in messaging. For example, users can ask Meta AI questions in chat ‘to settle arguments’ or ask other questions.

It’s been touted as fun entertainment and not just question answering.

I wonder if these AI chatbots will be as good as the Metaverse rollout has been so far?

Zuckerberg’s ‘personality’ chatbots

Zuckerberg’s ‘personality’ chatbots are a new feature of Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. They are artificial intelligence agents that can chat with users on Messenger, using the faces and voices of celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner, and Tom Brady.

They are supposed to have different personalities and interests, such as sports, cooking, or music. Meta claims that they are for entertainment purposes only, and that they have limitations on what they can answer.

Critical

However, some critics have raised ethical and social concerns about these chatbots. They argue that they are creating “counterfeit people” that could deceive or manipulate users, especially young ones. They also question the consent and privacy of the celebrities whose identities are used by the chatbots. They warn that these chatbots could pose dangers to the authenticity and trustworthiness of online communication.

If you are curious about these chatbots, you can try them out on Messenger by searching for their names. But be aware that they are not real people, and that they may not give you accurate or reliable information. They are just products of Meta’s artificial intelligence technology, which is still a work in progress – a bit like the Metaverse.

All this wonderful AI tech and what do we do? Play games with it!

August 1, 2023September 12, 2025

Meta (Facebook) Posts Strong Wall Street Gain in 2023 – its year of efficiency

Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META), formerly known as Facebook, has seen its stock price soar in 2023, a straight nine month gain in a massive turnaround after a dismal performance in 2022.

Meta is the parent company of social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, as well as the Oculus VR headset and other ventures.

Year of efficiency

Meta’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has declared 2023 as the ‘Year of Efficiency‘ for the company, as it tries to cut costs and streamline its operations. The company has also announced layoffs of about 10% of its workforce in 2022 and 2023, as part of its restructuring efforts.

Meta’s stock has almost doubled since January, making it among the top performers on the S&P 500. The company has also seen a boost in the number of daily active users on Facebook, reaching two billion as of the end of December 2022. Meta’s net worth is currently at $89.9 billion, making Zuckerberg the 12th wealthiest person on the planet, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.

Surge

Meta’s stock surge comes after a sharp decline in 2022, when the company faced regulatory scrutiny, public backlash and technical glitches over its plans to expand into the metaverse, a virtual reality world where people can interact with each other and through digital content.

Meta’s stock plummeted by over 60% last year, as Zuckerberg struggled to sell Wall Street on his vision for the future of social media.

Future

Meta is still betting on the metaverse as its long-term goal, and has been investing heavily in AI, VR and AR technologies. The company is reportedly working on a new social media app called ‘Instagram for your thoughts‘, which would allow users to share their thoughts and emotions using brain-computer interfaces.

The app could launch as soon as next month, according to latest reports.

The metaverse is coming!