Facebook parent company Meta has sunk to the bottom of the 10 most valuable US stocks. It is struggling to reconcile the impact of privacy changes that limit access to data for targeted adverts. Boss Mark Zuckerberg has staked the company’s future on the success of an expensive virtual reality metaverse. Judging by a recent image, it will not pay off for years to come.
The metaverse selfie Zuckerberg uploaded was supposed to herald the launch of the virtual reality platform in France and Spain. Over $27bn has been reported in operating losses for the metaverse project so far. Yet the image looked like it had been knocked up on a home computer in 1995. Zuckerberg responded to criticism with a more realistic, but still cartoonish, avatar.
Investors had better hope sophisticated graphics are in the works. Meta’s ability to expand acquisitions such as WhatsApp and Instagram has yet to translate to success in launching its own projects. See the failed cryptocurrency Diem.