Wall Street not sold on Mark Zuckerberg's vision of the metaverse
CBSN
Wall Street isn't exactly hopping aboard Facebook's plan to explore the metaverse. Shares in the social networking company fell to a five-month low on Thursday — the same day CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined its new direction at the company's annual developer conference.
Although Facebook's strategic shift could eventually pay dividends, it "will take years to come to fruition while coming at a steep price," CFRA analyst Angelo Zino told investors in a report. Investment bank Raymond James also dropped its price target on the company's stock to $410, although it maintained a "buy" rating.
Such caution is warranted. Even true believers in Facebook, which last week officially rechristened itself as Meta to underscore the company's new mission, will likely have to wait years before seeing any return on what is sure to require a massive investment as the company pivots toward what it bills as the internet's next stage.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.