Meta Still Bullish on Metaverse Despite Dull Q1 Financials

Meta’s Q1 20011 quarterly report shows that the company’s growth is not as bright as it would like to be. However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a lot to say about the metaverse and that the company is confident about its long-term goals.

Meta has released its Q1 2022 financial report, and the data doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Highlights from the report include the fact daily active users have gone up to 1.96 billion from Q1 2021, representing a 4% growth. Total revenue year-over-year has gone up by 7%, but total costs and expenses over the same period have gone up by 31%.

Meta made headlines in its last financial report because it revealed that it has lost users for the first time in Facebook’s history. This, along with a slew of other headlines, caused Meta’s shares to drop sharply, resulting in billions lost in market cap.

Meta has been making a sharp pivot towards the Metaverse in recent months, and this has become the prime focus of research and development. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has made his intentions about the metaverse very clear, said,

“We made progress this quarter across a number of key company priorities and we remain confident in the long-term opportunities and growth that our product roadmap will unlock. More people use our services today than ever before, and I’m proud of how our products are serving people around the world.”

Those long-term opportunities are the metaverse, which will include NFTs and a currency. Zuckerberg says that current efforts are a preparation for the upcoming years, saying that the metaverse market will be big.

The metaverse market is estimated to be worth over $600 billion by 2026 — and Meta is far from the only company jumping in. Meta has already poured billions into the effort and has lost billions, and other companies will do the same simply to get a headstart.

Robinhood revenue down for fifth consecutive quarter

Robinhood also released its quarterly financial report, and it experienced an even worse time than Meta. The company behind the popular trading platform saw its revenue fall to under $300 million, a whopping 43% down from the same time last year. This is the fifth consecutive quarter in which Robinhood’s revenue has dropped.

Cryptocurrency revenue fell to $54 million, a 39% drop from the $133 million of Q1 2021. This is a painful drop for a company that was putting a lot of its time and effort into expanding its crypto offerings.

Still, the company’s executives appear confident about the future. CEO and Co-founder Vlad Tenev said that the release of crypto wallets, and new upcoming products and services, would lead to an exciting future.