Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is betting its future on the success of its virtual reality platform. But the project is losing money so fast that it calls into question how long the company can keep it going.

About a year ago, Meta was the fifth most valuable publicly traded company in the world, behind only Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon. Today it is number 25, behind Home Depot.

Meta has seen measures of its financial health decline across the board. Revenue fell more than four percent in the third quarter, year-over-year. Administrative expenses increased, while profits were cut in half.

The company has acknowledged that it has done too much hiring in recent years, announcing the layoff of 11,000 employees and a hiring freeze until March.

But the most important factor seems…