Tilly’s (NYSE:TLYS) is headquartered in Irvine, CA. Like many other non-essential companies, it was devastated during the pandemic when it had to close its doors to in-person shopping.

That being said, Tilly’s is rebounding from the pandemic stronger than ever, reporting record profits and sales. Management thinks that momentum will continue throughout this year. Here is why Tilly’s could be a surprising growth stock in 2022.

Tilly’s is thriving

In the nine months ended October 30, Tilly’s net sales were 22.5% higher than they were during the same time in 2019. That is impressive, considering the Covid pandemic is still spiking today. Tilly’s is a brick-and-mortar accessories and apparel retailer with 243 stores open throughout the U.S. but mainly concentrated in Texas, Florida and California. Its products are made for young adults and pre-teens.

Management should be commended for the excellent job they did managing the company during the pandemic and ensuing supply chain shortages that have followed. Companies worldwide are reporting difficulty securing enough supplies to meet existing consumer demands. Those like Tilly’s that have secured the inventory they need reap the benefits of supply troubles at competitors. For instance, if the industry is short on supply, there will be less promotional activities like discounting.

Indeed, in its most recent quarter ended October 30, Tilly’s announced a gross profit margin of 37.2%, the highest since becoming a public company. The highest gross profit margin it had reached in the last decade was 32.2% in 2012.

Another benefit of having enough inventory when your competitors have fallen short is attracting disappointed customers. That might have played a big advantage for Tilly’s during the holidays. While Tilly’s holiday quarter figures haven’t been released yet, there is reason to believe their sales were robust. As of October 30, Tilly’s had inventories of $87 million, which is up from the $66 million it had during the same time last year. What’s more, the management team gave an update on its comparable net sales through November 30, saying it grew by 19.6% when compared to the year prior.

Tilly’s is in expansion mode

Tilly’s plans to open 15 to 20 new stores this year. That is an accelerated pace of new stores opening from 2021 when the business opened just five new stores. Tilly’s most certainly has the balance sheet to fund this expansion, with $155.6 million in securities and cash with no debt to its name. All in all, Tilly’s might be a surprise growth stock for 2022.

In November, Shiba Inu (Shib) Games project head Shytoshi Kusama said on Medium that “the future of gaming is Shib Inu.” Could Shib be a big metaverse winner?

Metaverse mania

Ever since Facebook announced it was changing its name to Meta Platforms in late Oct., we have seen a type of metaverse mania. The interest shown by Investors relating to stocks that might profit from the metaverse has soared.

Gaming tokens with their own “metaverses” have also seen huge booms. Decentraland jumped more than sixfold in just a few weeks. The Sandbox went up well over 8 times.

But while these metaverse cryptos were soaring, Shib was dropping. The meme coin was completely missing out on the metaverse craze. However, it seems that this will only be a short term situation.

Kusama’s Medium article released on Nov. 26 laid out his vision for Shib’s future. He asked: “What is Shib Inu becoming? How can Shib Inu grow into more than anyone thinks possible?” And his answer was that Shib’s destination is the metaverse.

Two big steps forward

Shiba Inu has taken two big steps forward in achieving Kusama’s vision. First, William Volk was added to the team as a consultant to lead the development.

Volk boasts an impressive record of creating games. He served as VP of technology for Activision Blizzard. He was over the creation of many successful games during his time with the business. Volk has also worked with many other gaming businesses during his long career.

Kusama’s Medium article hinted that an AAA gaming studio had been lined up. On Dec.7 as well, the identity of that studio has been revealed. Playside Studios said that it had agreed to an eight-month contract with Shib Games to “create a multiplayer Collectable Card game which is planned for release on multiple platforms.”

Playside ranks as the biggest publicly traded video games creator in Australia. It has created more than 50 games, including some with major studios such as Warner Bros., Pixar, Nickelodeon and Disney.

A monster metaverse winner?

The game that Playside is creating for Shib Games will target mobile users and won’t be based on the blockchain. However, Kusama said the game will only be licensed to the Shib decentralized team to add into the Shibarium layer-2 solution that was built on the Ethereum blockchain. Ultimately, this will transform into the “Oshiverse” — Shib’s own metaverse.

These efforts might put to rest some of the criticisms that Shib does not have any competitive advantages. Kasama claims that Shib “is positioned to be a top player in the gaming landscape this year.” That is probably a bit of a stretch, considering that the first game being created by Playside is not scheduled to be released until the first quarter of 2023.

On the other hand, Oshiverse might truly offer unique capabilities that help set it apart from its competitors. Will Shiba Inu be a big metaverse winner? Maybe eventually. But it is a waiting game for now.

Think longer term. That is important to remember with as much stock market volatility we have seen in recent days.

Regardless of how stocks are performing next week or even next month, there are a few areas that should be big winners in the future. One of those winners is the metaverse. If you are a long-term trader, here are three strong metaverse stocks that you should buy in 2022.

1. Nvidia

Nvidia ranks as the top artificial intelligence (AI) stock. It is a top gaming stock. And it is a top metaverse stock — both for today and the future.

While many businesses are scrambling to carve out their share of the metaverse, Nvidia has already started marketing a successful product. The Omniverse platform helps support virtual 3D design collaboration and simulation. Customers including engineering firms, manufacturers and game creators are using Omniverse.

Nvidia’s GPUs should have tremendous demand in the long term as well as when the metaverse is created. Few businesses are able to compete at the same level that Nvidia can when it comes to powering virtual reality apps.

2. Unity Software

Unity Software is a metaverse stock that I believe could realistically double this year. Its software has been used to produce over 70% of the leading 1,000 mobile games.

It will not just be programmers that create the metaverse, though. Artists will also be largely be involved in this as well. Unity is now in a great position to meet their needs after acquiring Weta Digital.

You probably haven’t heard of Weta, but you have more than likely seen its work. Unity’s platform has been used in the development of visual effects for many movies and TV shows, including The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

3. Meta Platforms

The metaverse is so vital to the future for Meta Platforms that the company has changed its name from Facebook. While its earnings from advertising on its social media platforms helps pay the bills for now, Meta has been investing large amounts of money in creating the metaverse.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly said that his company’s main goal is to help attract 1 billion people to the metaverse. He believes that this will “unlock a much larger creative economy of both physical and digital goods.”

Meta is one of only a handful of businesses that have the resources to put its focus on the entire metaverse ecosystem. Meta is creating an operating system, social platform, e-commerce architecture, and augmented virtual/reality devices that will make the metaverse a reality.