Investment analyst Clay Griffin of research firm MoffettNathanson expressed skepticism about Roblox's metaverse vision in a new report. Griffin suggests that Roblox's vision for the future of the sandbox gaming platform and metaverse may be exaggerated, and his efforts to focus on the big picture are simply masking the current setbacks the company is facing.
Article published by MarketWatch and spread through Dow Jones News Feed says in an analyst report titled Roblox: Trouble Growing, Lag Launch, $19 PTdescribes the Roblox experience as "lightweight and derivative", which may explain why the company is touting its core vision for the metaverse rather than addressing today's issues.
“But in a market that is increasingly crowded in the here and now, Roblox seems to want to turn the narrative towards a distant and, in our opinion, rosy picture of the future,” Griffin wrote. “And, of course, his extended role in it.”
This year, Roblox's share price has fallen to about one-third of its value. In 2021, the company reached its peak capitalization of $78 billion, while as of October 3, the cap was only $20,7 billion.
However, Griffin isn't exactly thrilled with Roblox. He wrote that he expects a "fairly good margin profile" for Metaverse. However, he is not sure that "the reality of Roblox will be as grand as his vision." Noting that Roblox was and still is primarily a gaming platform, he suggested that advertising could be "stuff" for the company. However, he suggested that it was too early to tell what impact these promotional strategies might have on the company as a whole.
He also noted that Roblox continues to ride a wave of some of the anticipation of what he considers "the mania of the metaverse," specifically citing the NFT craze that swept the investment world in late 2021 and 2022.
The analyst offered a price target of $19, compared to Friday's closing price of $35,84.
Roblox is taking steps to rebrand itself as a metaverse for people of all ages and backgrounds, as opposed to the corporation's long-standing image as a children's gaming company. The company recently changed the ESRB age rating from 10+ (E13+) to teen (T) and introduced voice chat for users 13+. Some of these efforts to attract an older audience seem to be working, with users aged XNUMX and over now making up more than half of the players on the platform.
Whether or not Griffin's analysis is correct, there is no doubt that the Roblox of the future will be very different from the Roblox of the past.
You can check out the best Roblox games in 2022 to decide if Griffin is right to be skeptical about the platform's popularity. Don't forget to also get a free avatar with codes from our list of Roblox October Promo Codes and visit our Roblox October Music Codes to play songs on your boombox.
