5 Stocks That Will Own the Metaverse

2. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (Class A): 191

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (Class C): 153

Search and tech giant Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has its own plans for metaverse domination, which will be supported by the company’s huge base of Android gamers. Alphabet is reportedly working on new VR technology that may use its Android OS as a base. The company has also been developing augmented reality technology for years, which is used on Google Maps.

Alphabet has also deployed a small fraction of its enormous war chest to buy up smaller companies in the VR/AR fields in recent years, including Eyefluence, which has developed eye tracking technology for use with AR/VR applications, and VR game developer Owlchemy Labs.

Overall hedge fund ownership of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is slightly off its peak reached two quarters earlier, but remains exceptionally high. Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey’s database, there are 10 long positions in Alphabet valued at more than $1 billion, with Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke, and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital holding two each.

Lakehouse Capital remains bullish on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s growth opportunities and ability to control costs, as revealed in its July 2022 investor letter:

“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reported another strong quarterly result despite the tough macroeconomic conditions. Revenue increased by 13% as Search proved resilient, primarily led by strength in the travel and retail verticals. YouTube advertising growth was lighter and moderated due to a tough comparison period and a general softening in brand advertising spend. That said, YouTube’s user engagement and time spent still continues to grow which bodes well for future monetisation opportunities. Google Cloud outpaced the company’s overall growth with revenue increasing by 36% and while it has yet to show any signs of profitability, we remain supportive of Alphabet continuing to reinvest in its cloud business given the size of the market opportunity ahead. On the cost front, the company added another 10,000 employees during the quarter, but notably, the CFO mentioned that hiring will likely slow down over the next twelve months as the company focuses on greater operating efficiency. Overall, we’re pleased with how the company has performed and are confident that management will be able to control costs, if or when the economic environment becomes more challenging.”