What Happened?
Shares of eyewear retailer Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) jumped 17.5% in the afternoon session after Google announced a Smart Glasses partnership with the company (Warby Parker), mirroring the concept behind the Ray-Ban Meta collaboration.
Google would be investing up to $150 million in the project, powered by Android XR, a custom operating system designed for extended reality (XR) devices.
The market for XR wearables is expanding fast, as Meta and EssilorLuxottica have sold more than 2 million Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses since their 2023 debut. This early traction highlights increasing consumer interest and validates the commercial viability of the technology.
By collaborating with Google, Warby Parker would be stepping into a new market with strong growth potential that could significantly boost future sales.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
Warby Parker’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 30 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Warby Parker and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
Warby Parker is down 18.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $20.57 per share, it is trading 27.6% below its 52-week high of $28.42 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Warby Parker’s shares at the IPO in September 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $377.50.
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