Meta says its metaverse-focused unit Reality Labs lost $2.9 billion in Q1 2022

Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook, released its first-quarter 2022 results on Wednesday, reporting that its Reality Labs unit, which focuses on the company's metaverse, posted a $2.9 billion loss in Q1 of 2022.

This loss figure represents an increase from the $1.8 billion loss in Q1 2021. 

On the revenue side, Reality Labs earned $695 million during the first quarter of this year, up from Q1 2021's $534 million.

Despite the loss, CEO Mark Zuckerberg still projected confidence about the metaverse business long term. 

“We expect 2022 total expenses to be in the range of $87-92 billion, lowered from our prior outlook of $90-95 billion,” the earnings report states about Meta overall. “We expect 2022 expense growth to be driven primarily by the Family of Apps segment, followed by Reality Labs.”

Reality Labs is focused on virtual reality and augmented reality products and services, through which users can socialize, work, and play. In its business financials earlier this year, Reality Labs posted a more than $10 billion loss across 2021.

Around $4 billion of the losses were due to employee costs, R&D, and costs of items sold, Meta CFO David Wehner said in the company's February earnings call.

Meta stirred controversy earlier this month when announcing that it would take nearly half of the earnings of any items sold in the metaverse, The Block covered.

The company's total revenue for Q1 2022 is $27.9 billion, per the report, up from $26.1 billion a year ago.

 

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Anushree covers how U.S. businesses and corporations are moving into crypto. She has written about business and tech for Bloomberg, Newsweek, Insider, and others. Reach out on Twitter @anu__dave