Meta Loses .2 Billion on its Metaverse Operations in 2021
On Wednesday, Meta Patforms, formerly known as Facebook announced losses of $10.2 billion in 2021 on its newly created Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) division. This includes Meta’s augmented and virtual reality operations.
According to its fourth-quarter earnings report, FRL revenue for 2021 was $2.3 billion and just a small fraction of the almost $116 billion generated from Meta’s products and applications, which include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. FRL losses in the fourth quarter were up to $3.3 billion on a revenue of $877 million from a loss of $2.6 billion on revenue of $558 million in the third quarter.
Meta had previously predicted that FRL would reduce its overall operating profit by about $10 billion in 2021, and nevertheless would remain committed to keep investing on the division for the next several years, stressing the importance of the metaverse to its future.
Overall numbers for Meta fell short of what analysts were expecting. The reported adjusted Q4 earnings per share of $3.67 were below the anticipated $3.85, although revenue was slightly larger than estimated, $33.7 versus of $33.4 billion.
Following the release of the results, Meta shares tanked more than 20% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
Speaking off the company’s metaverse plans during the call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the release of a high-end virtual reality headset by the end of the year and also confirmed the continuation of its “Nazare” project, the company’s first fully augmented reality glasses.
Meta recently shut down its Diem stablecoin project after selling the project’s assets and operations to Silvergate Banks for $182 million.
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Source: igaming
