Dear investor,
My name is Michael Douglass – you may know me from our Industry Focus and Market Foolery podcasts or from various premium research projects over the years including this one. My job is to help members like you position themselves to take advantage of the most exciting and disruptive trends in the world.
And while “The Metaverse” may be perhaps the most exciting and disruptive trend right now – I mean, some estimates believe it could deliver 17-fold market growth in the next several years, that’s pretty big — it also remains cloaked in mystery.
My goal today is simple. We’re going to cover everything Metaverse.
- What it is and what it could do…
- Why we could be seeing The Metaverse sooner than anyone could have imagined…
- And, perhaps most importantly, exactly how we plan to identify the potential “hidden winners” that we believe can help members potentially maximize their profits from investing in The Metaverse.
Now, before we get started, I just want to share my general formula for thinking through investing opportunities.
- Gotta be big.
- Gotta be soon.
- Gotta be visible.
This is kind of The Motley Fool’s sweet spot – time and again we’ve made early calls on big trends that have made those members who followed us a ton of money.
Like Netflix with streaming – years before Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy…
Amazon and Shopify with e-commerce as each was early in a truly spectacular growth cycle…
Activision Blizzard with e-gaming, which has taken off like a rocket…
| Stock Pick | Year Purchased (first rec.) | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | 12/17/2004 | 32,827% |
| Amazon | 09/06/2002 | 23,312% |
| Shopify | 02/24/2016 | 3,207% |
| Activision Blizzard | 08/09/2002 | 2,994% |
And now we’re here because our experts are hoping to make the exact same call – about The Metaverse.
And let me just reflect here and share something incredible.
Because here’s the thing - while estimates believe video streaming on demand revenue could hit $71 billion in 2021…and that size was enough to catapult Netflix to almost 35,000% gains since we first recommended it…
And of course, e-commerce has grown even more, US e-commerce sales hit an estimated $759 billion last year, enough to drive, as you’ve seen, 22,000%+ gains for Amazon since our initial recommendation…
While we would never promise that any stock or trend would perform as well, Independent third-party estimates believe the Metaverse could grow even bigger than both of these markets. In fact, they’re predicting that the market for the Metaverse could grow as big as $829 billion!
So, if they’re right, I think we’re looking at an opportunity that could eclipse even some of The Motley Fool’s greatest performers ever…
Yeah, that’s something I want to invest in.
Now, to really understand The Metaverse, we need to dig into the history of the internet.
Each development phase of the internet has removed friction. And that makes sense – internet companies want you spending more time online so they can market to you, get you to buy more goods and services, etc. Think about the shift from dial-up to DSL and cable – it meant that suddenly your phoneline wasn’t busy whenever you were using the internet, so you could rapidly increase your use.
And then think about the shift from landline based to smartphones and mobile internet. Meant suddenly you could carry the internet everywhere with you.
But if you can take the internet everywhere with you…what’s the next step? The next way to reduce friction?
It’s taking it off the screen – and bringing it all around you.
That’s The Metaverse: A fully immersive digital universe with the potential to remake our economy.
I know that’s a pretty bold claim, so let me take a moment and explain.
You’ve been hearing a lot about cryptocurrencies…non-fungible tokens…and the blockchain.
And as you know, we’ve seen an undeniable and massive shift toward cryptocurrencies in the last few years.
I mean, the crypto market itself is worth nearly $3 trillion now.
If it were a country, crypto would have the #5 GDP in the world – ranked just below the US, China, Japan, and Germany…and ahead of India, the UK, and Russia.
These technologies are some of the most important building blocks for the Metaverse.
In many ways, they really make it possible.
And all of them coalescing in the Metaverse…well…I think they’ll further accelerate the trends we’re already seeing.
Crypto…
NFTs…
Virtual Reality…
From where I sit, all of them are pointing to the same thing.
So an investment in the Metaverse is a bet on these continued trends. Which, I mean, it’s hard to argue against them in my opinion.
An independent estimate says the Metaverse could achieve 17-fold market growth from here, and ultimately could achieve nearly a trillion dollars in annual revenue.
And again – potentially a BIGGER trend than e-commerce and digital video streaming, which propelled Netflix and Amazon to incredible gains…
Ok. So it looks big. Check that first box.
Next, let’s turn to “how soon.” Because again – you probably don’t want to lock up your cash in something that could take decades to start paying off.
Here’s what’s so interesting about The Metaverse.
It’s just too big to happen all at once. Just like the internet was built up over time, it’s probably going to come online in chunks.
And some elements of it are coming online right now, according to media reports.
NVIDIA released a slew of new tools to its Omniverse Enterprise platform earlier this month, including Omniverse Avatar, Omniverse Replicator for Artificial Intelligence, and more. NVIDIA’s CEO calls Omniverse “the technology to create new 3D worlds or model our physical world.”
Not to be outdone, Meta Platforms (you, know, Facebook) recently announced that its Quest for Business platform for the Metaverse should begin beta testing by the end of 2021.
Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have all made big investments in augmented reality, virtual reality, or smart home gadgets that can help further flesh out this vision.
It’s all happening right now.
So yes – in my opinion: The time to build a game plan is now. Quickly.
Especially given how investable The Metaverse appears to be – there are all kinds of stocks, including many of the biggest companies in the world like Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook that are investing tons of resources in it.
And hey, listen, if you want to just invest in Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google, these early leaders in the space and be done with it, by all means be my guest.
They’re all great companies. But they’re…well, they’re a little obvious, don’t you think?
And consider that they’re all near or above a $1 trillion market cap.
Probably not a whole lot of upside there. Hard to imagine any of them 10x-ing from here.
Going a level deeper requires a lot of time. And hey, I imagine a lot of you love investing and pouring hours into tearing apart the most recent 10-K of your favorite stocks.
I’m the same way. It’s why I work here at The Motley Fool – because I love learning, and I want to invest as effectively as possible.
But I think even the most ardent hobbyist investor can see how daunting a challenge it is to try to predict all the different ways The Metaverse and augmented reality could revolutionize our world…
Which sectors are poised to pivot most effectively…and then of course which stocks within each of those sectors…
Especially the underfollowed and unknown “hidden winners” that we think could deliver the really impressive returns…
And of course, even scrubbing through those, researching the businesses, understanding the opportunity in each, getting to know leadership, and all the other research necessary to pick what could be the best would be a titanic endeavor. Plus, once the stocks are picked, investors have to think through allocation, weighting, and portfolio construction.
But we’ve made a far simpler solution – Rule Breakers: Augmented Reality & Beyond. Helmed by Jason Moser, who in my opinion is one of the smartest analysts here at The Motley Fool, Augmented Reality is designed to be the full Metaverse package.
The stocks that represent our best ideas for playing the opportunities in The Metaverse and associated technologies.
Now, again, an investor could just go buy the re-branded Facebook – Meta Platforms – themselves.
But our goal in Augmented Reality & Beyond is to really find the growth stories that we think can potentially deliver the truly outsized returns of “hidden winners.” And that’s why the median pick in Augmented Reality is just a fraction of the size of Facebook by market cap.
So. From where I sit, that’s a lot of upside potential.
And to be honest I expect even the most plugged-in Fool member has probably never seen quite a few of these stocks before.
Mostly because some of them have NEVER been recommended anywhere at The Motley Fool outside of Augmented Reality & Beyond.
They’ve been exclusive to Augmented Reality & Beyond’s scorecard.
Just a few examples:
- A stock specializing in AR simulations (the kinds we should see in the Metaverse) we think that has tapped about 10% of its estimated total addressable market…that’s right – I believe this one could be a pretty easy 10x business growth opportunity...and whose platform has already been validated by well-known clients like Samsung, Nestle, Pepsico, Airbus, Volvo, Autodesk, and even Microsoft! NEVER recommended outside of Augmented Reality & Beyond.
- The little-known company leading the digital transformation charge in unexpected industries – like factories. Its products are designed to target many of these industries that just haven’t digitized yet... From where I sit, pretty much the definition of a “hidden winner” that the market simply hasn’t recognized yet – but with earnings up 81-fold in just four years, I think it’s only a (short) matter of time before the market wakes up to the opportunity. Again, NEVER recommended outside of Augmented Reality & Beyond.
- And the third – this one’s pretty cool…it’s a health tech company that is using VR to do stroke rehab. Estimates believe the stroke market could grow to $36.8 billion by 2023, and with this stock still at under a billion in annual revenue, there’s more than 50x potential upside here as they help people recover…the very definition of doing well by doing good! And again, NEVER recommended outside of Augmented Reality & Beyond.
In addition to exciting stocks like these…and again, the very cutting edge of Motley Fool investing research going on here…
Jason and his team have also taken care of portfolio allocation so it’s not just a disparate group of stocks but a team of companies welded together with the goal of helping members who follow along pursue our ambitious augmented reality investing plan as effectively as possible.
That’s why the team conducts a FULL portfolio ranking on a quarterly basis – ranking each stock in our portfolio from top to bottom – so members can continually receive our most up-to-date guidance whenever they’re ready to purchase new stocks and increase their portfolio’s exposure to our top AR plays!
Finally, in addition to our collection of 30+ stocks, continuing recommendations, and portfolio ranking reports – we're also pleased to announce a resource that ensures members are ahead of all the major developments in augmented reality.
By joining Rule Breakers: Augmented Reality today, you'll instantly become enrolled in "AR: 360."
"AR: 360" is designed to be a one-stop shop for all the biggest news and happenings in the augmented reality space. As a member, you'll receive monthly updates across the entire augmented reality space.
That includes:
- Continuing guidance and updates on ALL 30+ recommendations included in Rule Breakers: Augmented Reality.
- Additional research on upcoming recommendations and analysis of how they fit into our existing portfolio.
- Updates on all the most cutting-edge news from across the AR space.
- Exclusive research and actionable insights from our cutting-edge research trips to the world's most advanced AR companies.
Simply put, we've built "AR: 360" to be a powerful resource for investors who will be investing along with The Motley Fool in the coming years of incredible change...
And then of course, this is all secured by our Ironclad Satisfaction Guarantee. Join Augmented Reality & Beyond, “test drive” the full portfolio, receive our team’s continuing guidance and future recommendations…
And if at any time within the first 30 days you’re not completely satisfied you can simply call our helpful member services team, and they’ll be happy to transfer your membership fee as a credit to another one of our portfolio products. It’s as simple as that…
If you have any questions, please contact our friendly Member Support team anytime via email at [email protected].
Note from the Member Services Team:
To foolish gains,
Michael Douglass
Analyst
The Motley Fool
Returns updated daily during market hours unless otherwise noted.
Still have questions? Click the boxes below for answers to our most common questions:
The advisors working on Rule Breakers: Augmented Reality & Beyond generally recommend that participating members invest a minimum of $50,000 in the stocks within this service to take full advantage.
While members are always welcome to participate in our services with any amount they wish, our analysts generally recommend that the purchase amount of any Motley Fool subscription (and any additional investing expenses) amount to no more than 1 - 2% of a member’s overall portfolio. It is also worth noting that the analysts who designed this strategy created it as an aggressive addition to a larger portfolio.
We are aware that members who are involved with multiple services are seeing some of the same companies recommended to them. It is important to understand that our goal is not to get you to own as many companies as possible. When we launch each service, we strive to recommend the best companies we can find that fit the theme of that service. Good companies that fit multiple themes will probably be recommended in multiple services.
There is a truism in investing that the best opportunity you have at this moment might be something you already own. It does neither us nor you much good to have you owning as many companies as possible just to own more companies.
Once every month you will receive an official portfolio recommendation or a Radar Stock. A Radar Stock isn't an official recommendation — at least not yet — but it's one we're researching with deep interest. In addition, you’ll receive a monthly commentary piece where we discuss topics relevant to this portfolio. We will also provide a quarterly ranking of the stocks. Sell recommendations are issued as needed.