Apple Stock Jumps after CEO Hints at Metaverse Investment

The Metaverse mania and primarily Facebook’s Meta rebrand were key in pushing the space to mainstream attention in the last year.

Since then institutional interest in the Metaverse space has kept attracting eyeballs and stirring the narrative for Metaverse tokens. The newest institution to jump on the Metaverse razzmatazz is Apple. 

Apple Embraces the Metaverse

On Thursday after Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about expansion of the company’s augmented reality apps, teasing metaverse ambitions, the same prompted a strong investor response that pushed Apple stocks. 

Apple’s stock price jumped in after-hours trading after Cook during the company’s Q1 2022 earnings call said that he sees considerable potential in the Metaverse space. Notably Apple stock jumped by close to 5% in after-hours trading on January 27. 

Cook further added:

“We’re always exploring new and emerging technologies and I’ve spoken at length about how it’s very interesting to us right now.”

APPL had dropped about 3% to $159.22 during day trading hours, however, post the announcement it saw a close to 8% jump and traded at $167.23 in after-hours trading. 

Furthermore, during the company’s Q1 2022 earnings call Cook also said that metaverse developments are related to the company’s current AR/VR endeavors. Adding to that the Apple CEO said that the company is in the ‘business of innovation’ and has ‘over 14,000 AR apps in the App Store.’

AppleInsider also reported that Cook pointed out that apps designed using ARKit could help users gain access to the Metaverse.

For now, while Meta is tilting towards using the Oculus headset to immerse users into the Metaverse, Apple is placing its bets on AR technology. Notably, an Apple headset was scheduled for release in 2022, but it may be delayed for now due to hardware and software challenges. 

In the last few months, some of the biggest tech companies like Meta and Microsoft, have taken steps to move forward with public plans to develop in the Metaverse space. 

Metaverse Interest Could Trigger Token Growth

After Facebook’s Meta rebrand considerable amount of interest poured into the space which pumped Metaverse tokens to their new ATHs amid rising curiosity about the space.

Decentraland (MANA) a decentralized 3-D virtual reality platform supported by the Ethereum blockchain, saw its native token MANA soar to an all-time high of $4.11 on 31 October amid the Meta rebrand mania. Furthermore, metaverse tokens like Enjin Coin, The Sandbox, and others considerable surge in price too. 

Likewise, if the tech giant Apple explores a way to enter the Metaverse space in the future the same could aid price rallies for the aforementioned tokens in the future. That said, Apple’s plans to enter the Metaverse space aided Metaverse tokens’ price uptick at press time.

Notably, MANA was up almost 4% over the last day while SAND saw close to 10% price appreciation in the last 24-hours, while trading volume saw a considerable jump too.