What happened
Shares of spatial data company Matterport (MTTR) jumped as much as 19.5% in trading on Friday, on speculation it could be a metaverse stock. Shares are up 17.3% at 3:40 p.m. EDT and look like they will end the week extremely strong.
So what
Investors are speculating today that Matterport could be a partner in Facebook's (META -0.31%) effort to build the metaverse (Facebook will soon be known as Meta). The two companies are working together on Facebook's AI simulation platform in Embodied AI. This research is intended to find use cases for spatial data and AI with academic researchers.
Image source: Matterport.
It's a bit of a stretch today to say that the Meta name change announcement yesterday will impact Matterport's business long term. It could be good to have a front-row view of the development of the metaverse, but Meta's moves don't necessarily change Matterport's trajectory.
One announcement that could also be getting attention is Matterport's Capture app now being available for Android users, which includes capturing spaces on smartphones. A previous version of the app was compatible with cameras, but didn't include full capture capabilities on-device, which was announced yesterday.
Now what
I am certainly bullish on Matterport's future as a company, but this is a move that seems a little overdone given the infancy of the metaverse. But it will be worth watching how spatial data is used in the development of tools for AR/VR/metaverse applications.
The most important news from Matterport will come out next week on Nov. 3, when third-quarter earnings are released. This will give investors an idea of how quickly this growth stock is gaining traction with users.
