Smart glasses have been making headlines as of late, with high-profile names such as Meta (META), Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Snap (SNAP), and Apple (AAPL) all developing products for what could become a highly lucrative market.
We asked Seeking Alpha analysts Gary Alexander and Gytis Zizys what they thought was the most attractive smart glasses stock right now.
Gary Alexander: To me, the most successful smart glasses have to mix ease of use with accessible pricing and a “cool” brand name. To that end, I think Meta’s (META) partnership with EssilorLuxottica’s (ESLOY) Ray-Ban wins. It offers an acceptable starting price ($299 for Gen 1), the global “cool” factor of Ray-Ban, and neat features, not to mention all the other incredible upside catalysts that Meta’s advertising business enjoys beyond simply its experiments in hardware.
Gytis Zizys: Right now, I am giving the edge to what Meta (META) is doing in this space. I must say they have surprised me quite a bit with the quality of the glasses they have produced. We are moving countries soon, and the language there is not English, so my wife got the Ray-Ban smart glasses that will help her translate her surroundings easily on the go.
With Meta looking to ramp up production to 20M units annually, the race is on, and you know players in the space like Google (GOOG) with Warby Parker (WRBY), Apple (AAPL) with its own thing, and Meta with EssilorLuxottica’s (ESLOY) Oakley and Ray-Ban brands will be battling it out.
The suppliers of the chips will be the biggest beneficiaries, I think, as the pick and shovel companies enabling the technology. Players here include Qualcomm (QCOM), Ambarella (AMBA), and ON Semiconductor (ON).