Artificial Intelligence
About the Author
Jon Quast has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cloudflare, Ethereum, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, Roblox, and Unity Software. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Here are some top considerations, in no particular order:
Formally known as Facebook, Meta Platforms is spending more on the metaverse concept than any other company in the world. Most of the company's revenue comes from ads on the Facebook and Instagram apps.
In the past, the platform primarily resonated with U.S. users younger than 13. But it's developed into a global company with an increasingly expanded set of older users. The metaverse will likely have multiple interactive platform destinations. However, with more than 140 million daily active users already, Roblox has a big head start.
The right metaverse stock is subjective because investing is personal. Some investors are looking for the safest metaverse stock. This will likely be a metaverse stock with a proven profitable growth engine.
Other investors might look for the metaverse stock with the greatest upside potential over the next decade. This could theoretically be a stock that an investor seeking safety would avoid.
The point is that there isn't a right or wrong metaverse stock. There's risk to investing in any stock. And every investor will need to personally assess the risks before investing.
Many market researchers still forecast substantial long-term growth for the metaverse, even though investor enthusiasm has cooled considerably. While investors should always take third-party research with a grain of salt, there are indeed still some reasons to believe the metaverse could yet be valuable.
Specifically, metaverse platforms need to be detailed and expansive to truly attract users. These are cumbersome to create manually. But the advent and improvements of generative AI are making it easier to create digital content. In short, generative AI can lead to better metaverse content, potentially catalyzing adoption.
Metaverse hardware devices have improved in recent years, and it's reasonable to expect further meaningful advances. This, coupled with better content, could finally attract a critical mass of metaverse adopters, providing a glimmer of hope for the metaverse.




Metaverse stocks seek to generate revenue from the metaverse -- a shared, digital environment designed to blend virtual experiences with the real world. In theory, it enables people to work, socialize, shop, and play inside immersive digital spaces.
In practice, the metaverse is still taking shape. Today's versions are fragmented and limited, closer to early internet experiments than a fully realized platform. That's important for investors: Expectations should be long term, not immediate.
The upside? Because development is still early, investors have time to position thoughtfully rather than chase hype.
Rather than betting on a single outcome, investors can approach the metaverse through several overlapping layers:
With so many options, there's likely a metaverse stock to fit any investor's style and risk tolerance.
As previously mentioned, it could be many years before the metaverse exists in its fullest form. So, the best metaverse stocks to buy today aren't entirely dependent on the metaverse; they already have thriving businesses outside the metaverse trend.
However, Meta Platforms has another business unit, Reality Labs, which sells hardware devices and VR content. Its Oculus VR headsets have collectively sold more than any other on the market, making Meta a top stock for immersive hardware.
The company is also investing billions of dollars annually to advance VR and AR applications -- more than most other metaverse companies could dream of. If there's a future in the metaverse, Meta will likely play an important part.
Roblox (RBLX +2.90%) is already a go-to virtual world that could be an early-stage version of a metaverse platform. Musicians and celebrities host live events on Roblox's platform, perhaps signaling that these are gaining mainstream appeal.
Cloudflare (NET +1.40%) is a global content delivery network (CDN), positioning internet content physically closer to users in more than 330 cities with its global network. The proximity makes connections faster, and the company's cybersecurity solutions can make connections more secure as well. Both are useful to the concept of the metaverse.
Furthermore, Cloudflare believes that Web3 could be the future of the metaverse -- decentralized metaverse applications will use blockchain technologies. The company has invested in becoming a gateway for the Ethereum (ETH -3.14%) ecosystem, allowing developers to build applications without running the underlying infrastructure.
Unity Software (U -3.12%) is a leader in the 3D software space. The company's products are popular among developers, and it's reasonable to expect it to create a lot of 3D content for the metaverse.
It's also reasonable to believe the company can take market share from competitors due to its unique value proposition. Consider that two of its subscription tiers -- Unity Personal and Unity Student -- are free to start. This familiarizes content creators with Unity's software. And as these creators find financial success, they'll likely become paying Unity customers.
Tech giant Nvidia (NVDA +1.70%) addresses many big metaverse needs, including 3D content creation, powerful graphics rendering, AI, and more, making it a top metaverse stock as well. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) have long been used in the video game space and are now finding plenty of use in powering AI models.
Beyond hardware, the company has software with applications in creating digital worlds and 3D content. Given its stellar stock market performance in recent years, Nvidia is quickly becoming a household name and still has a lot of potential in the metaverse trend.
Maybe you can't decide which metaverse stock to buy, or maybe you want broader exposure than a single stock. Consider buying a metaverse-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) comprised of dozens of stocks.
The Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (METV +0.00%) is the largest option available and includes all the companies listed above. While ETFs reduce company-specific risk, fees (0.59% annually) can weigh on long-term returns.
Here are some of the pros and cons that investors should consider.

| Company name | Company ticker | Market cap | Dividend yield | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Platforms | NASDAQ:META | $1.6 trillion | 0.34% | Interactive Media and Services |
| Roblox | NYSE:RBLX | $31.3 billion | 0.00% | Entertainment |
| Cloudflare | NYSE:NET | $87.5 billion | 0.00% | IT Services |
| Unity Software | NYSE:U | $11.9 billion | 0.00% | Software |
| Nvidia | NASDAQ:NVDA | $5.1 trillion | 0.02% | Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment |