It’s been a little while since we took a look at the companies in our portfolios making news and moves, and a lot has happened in the last few weeks.
Facebook is going all in on the metaverse.
The technology company has reportedly decided to change its group name to reflect its focus on the metaverse, and it’s just hired 10,000 people in the EU to work on the metaverse.
The metaverse is a term used to describe a future version of the internet in which people will be able to enter virtual 3D worlds and simulations.
While Facebook has declined to comment on the name change, the move could help the company separate itself from some of the regulatory scrutiny it has been under in recent years. It also might be a better reflection of where the company is at today; while Facebook is its flagship product, it also owns WhatsApp and Instagram.
Google made a similar move in 2015 when it reorganised as Alphabet.
Facebook stock is up 27.12% this year (as at 21 October 2021).
Facebook is in our Spaceship Universe Portfolio and Spaceship Origin Portfolio.
PayPal
PayPal has made a number of acquisitions in the past — it bought online coupon company Honey in 2019 and payments getaway Braintree in 2013 — but the company it is currently eyeing is a step away from its usual targets.
PayPal has a reported interest in Pinterest, the visual search and social media platform.
Pinterest has slowly but surely added shopping features over the years, from algorithm-based product recommendations to, more recently, a Shopping List feature.
And PayPal wants in on that.
This would give PayPal an opportunity to capitalise on both ecommerce and social media in one, and would help it compete against big names such as Amazon and Shopify. It’ll also help PayPal assemble and likely leverage data on the types of products consumers are buying.
PayPal stock is up 4.87% this year (as at 21 October 2021).
PayPal is in our Spaceship Universe Portfolio.
Atlassian
Australian tech giant Atlassian has been named one of the 25 best places to work in the world.
It was the only Australian company to make the list by the Great Place to Work Institute.
The accolade is particularly impressive given Atlassian announced a new ‘work from anywhere’ policy earlier this year, which will see Atlassian’s more than 6,000 employees be allowed to work from any location (including home) in countries where Atlassian has a corporate entity, provided they gather in an office four times a year.
Atlassian stock is up 80.13% this year (as at 21 October 2021).
Atlassian is in our Spaceship Earth Portfolio.
The Spaceship Voyager portfolios invest in Facebook, Alphabet (Google), PayPal, and Atlassian. Please refer to the Spaceship app or our website for more information on what each portfolio invests in.
Important! We’re sharing with you our thoughts on the companies in which Spaceship Voyager invests for your informational purposes only. We think it’s important (and interesting!) to let you know what’s happening with Spaceship Voyager’s investments. However, we are not making recommendations to buy or sell holdings in a specific company. Past performance isn’t a reliable indicator or guarantee of future performance.
