Just as Meta is making what The Wall Street Journal called “its most ambitious attempt yet to prove that its metaverse aspiration really does have some legs,” with a reveal of its latest endeavors in VR scheduled for next week, the social media company is in the midst of extensive cost cutting, including office closings, hiring freezes and layoffs. And its shares have lost 58% of their value in the last 12 months, making them the 10 worst performers in the S&P 500 in that time, the Journal noted. In Friday morning trading, shares of Meta Platforms fell 2.5% to $135.57.

These moves follow a series of privacy and political scandals, combined with an economic slowdown and falling spending on online advertising to create a series of hurdles for Facebook and…