The VR and AR markets are full of companies of various sizes with many roles in the VR industry, when you consider how many verticals there are it can get confusing. Additionally, many of these companies are still privately owned or in their infancy. Thus, if you are interested in investing in some of these companies you would normally have to be a venture capitalist (VC) of some sort usually with millions of dollars to invest. Many VC firms have gotten into VR in one way or another and wall street firms are watching VR like its already a full-blown market. VR is still a very fledgling market and has lots of room to grow, which means that there’s lots of potential for companies involved in VR to make some major money for their investors. Investing in a new market is risky and there will be some winners and there will be some losers, so there’s definitely a certain amount of risk. VR investments have broken into the billions of dollars with reports showing as high as $4-5 billion since 2010 and $2 billion in the last 12 months alone.
This list will mostly be made up of publicly traded companies that are confirmed to have a presence in VR. There are a few at the end that are suspects but don’t have anything launched or to show quite yet. Below we have compiled the company, exchange, stock ticker and involvement in VR. Also keep in mind that there are plenty of private companies worth investing in, and some public companies listed below have invested in them like Magic Leap who has investments to the tune of $1.39 billion from companies listed below like Google and Qualcomm.
Public Companies involved in VR
- Facebook – NASDAQ: FB – Oculus VR, VR headset, VR Camera, VR content, VR platform
- Google – NASDAQ: GOOG – Cardboard, Google VR, Daydream & Tango, VR cameras, Tilt Brush
- Starbreeze Games – NASDAQ OMX Stockholm: STAR – VR headset & VR games
- IMAX – NYSE: IMAX – VR content, headsets from Starbreeze & cameras
- Discovery Communications – NASDAQ: DISCA – VR Content
- Sony – NYSE: SNE – VR Console, VR Games & VR Headset
- HTC – TPE: 2498 – Headset, Content Delivery Platform (non-gaming)
- AMD – NASDAQ: AMD – GPUs, CPUs and other computer hardware for VR
- Intel – NASDAQ: INTC – VR headset and CPUs & iGPUs, RealSense 3D cameras for AR & VR
- NVIDIA – NASDAQ: NVDA – GPUs for VR
- Qualcomm – NASDAQ: QCOM – Smartphone SoC for VR, VR Headset Ref. Design.
- Samsung – KRX: 005930 – GearVR (partnership with Oculus VR) and 360 Camera
- Nokia – NYSE: NOK – OZO VR Cinema camera
- Mattel – NASDAQ: MAT – VR Headset & Content
- LG – KRX: 0003550 – VR Camera & Headset
- Amazon – NASDAQ: AMZN – VR Content & Game Engine
- Time Warner, Inc – NYSE: TWX – VR Content & Distribution Platform
- Microsoft – NASDAQ: MSFT – VR operating system, VR platform, VR headset
- Amazon – NASDAQ: AMZN – VR content
Unconfirmed
- Apple – NASDAQ: AAPL – AR/VR headset
How to invest in these companies
Because right now there are so many startups with VC investment, the only way that you can invest is to buy stocks that have varying levels of VR engagement. This means buying stocks from the NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges through a broker like TD Ameritrade, Scott Trade or Robinhood. There are plenty of other ways to invest in VR, but these are some of the cheapest and fastest ways of getting there before the market matures.
You can also go through your own broker, who will advise you on which stocks are worth buying overall when you consider their entire business performance, not just VR. The list provided above is not designed to be a recommendation to buy these stocks and a certified financial professional is your best guide to investing in VR. In addition to buying these stocks, you can either buy a mutual fund that is heavy in these stocks or one that is more diversified but still incorporates some of the individual companies.
Disclaimer: This article is not a recommendation or solicitation for you to buy any of the stocks mentioned above and is purely for informational and research purposes. This article is not and should not be considered as advice or as a recommendation regarding investing in any security or any investment activity. This article is provided without any guarantees and is purely to inform the reader about the companies involved in the VR industry and what their roles are within it. Please consult a professionally accredited investment advisor if you plan to make any investing decisions.
Disclosure: My firm, Moor Insights & Strategy, like all research and analyst firms, provides or had provided research, analysis, advising, and/or consulting to many high-tech companies in the industry, including AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Samsung and others cited this article. I do not hold any equity positions with any companies cited in this column.
