When Facebook announced it was rebranding and changing the company name to Meta, this caused a surge of metaverse hype, with discussions and mentions in company filings peaking in Q4 2021. An analysis of GlobalData’s Company Filing Analytics database also found that the number of companies discussing the metaverse rose every quarter in 2021.

The leading data and analytics company’s latest report, ‘Company Filing Analytics Trends & Signals Annual Report 2021’, revealed that metaverse sentiments remain high in the 0.9-1.0 range*, with mentions almost tripling in Q4 2021 over Q3 2021. Virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), digital media, artificial intelligence (AI), and mobile gaming were some of the metaverse-related themes discussed on 2021 earnings calls.

Rinaldo Pereira, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “VR and AR are the key themes of discussion with ‘3D’, ‘Glass’ and ‘Optics’ appearing as keywords suggesting that display and optic related manufacturers have joined the hype bandwagon. Intriguingly, ‘Metaverse’ largely appeared on transcripts and is a tell-tale sign of analysts also being more curious about investments and strategies.”

Apart from Meta initially discussing metaverse investment in July 2021, Remark Holdings, MicroVision, Mogo, and Endava were other companies looking at investment. In 2022, GlobalData expects metaverse growth to be driven by the enterprise and gaming markets, with gaming an ideal starting point.

Pereira concludes: “With the forthcoming big tech earnings releases, metaverse opportunities and investment are likely to be discussed more frequently in the current quarter as more companies explore prospects. Firms are scrambling to be the top in the ever-growing Metaverse trend, underlined by Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.”

Rupantar Guha, Principal Analyst in the Thematic Team at GlobalData says: “The metaverse is attracting significant media attention and is often described as the next incarnation of the internet. While the metaverse is still conceptual, early prototypes and use cases are emerging, with gaming-related companies such as Meta, Epic Games, Nvidia, and Microsoft leading the pack. In addition, VR and AR are key enablers of the metaverse, both for consumer applications and the future of work. More investments will go into VR and AR over 2022, as companies strengthen their capabilities and search for talent to position themselves in the metaverse mega-theme.”

*GlobalData uses an advanced machine learning algorithm to calculate sentiment in a range of 0 to 1, with 1 being the most positive. GlobalData Company Filing Analytics Database provides near real-time analysis of quarterly & annual reports, earnings call transcripts, IPO filings, events presentations and ESG filing trends for publicly listed companies globally.