In this article, we discuss the 10 remote work stocks to buy now. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of these stocks, go directly to the 5 Remote Work Stocks to Buy Now.
Remote work stocks have started climbing again as a new variant of COVID-19, dubbed Omicron, makes waves across the world. With the threat of lockdowns looming again, businesses that had barely begun to shift people back to offices after a lengthy time working from home are once again faced with the possibility of going completely digital. Some tech executives have even announced that they will be moving to permanent remote work setups. A report by freelance platform company Upwork claims that by 2025 more than 36 million Americans will be working remotely.
Before the pandemic, only around 16 million Americans had work-from-home setups. The huge increase in just a few months underlines that the remote work revolution is already underway. As cybersecurity improves, cloud-based technologies become faster, and hybrid working models take center stage, remote work trends could continue well beyond pandemic fears. The spending on communications infrastructure in the US over the next few years, under the Biden Infrastructure Plan, could also be a key factor driving the adoption of remote work.
The companies that have already shifted to cloud-based work models, like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM), among others discussed in detail below, will most likely benefit from this shift. Those who are late to the party will inevitably have to face the consequences of indecision in this regard.
Our Methodology
These were picked based on business fundamentals and analyst ratings. The hedge fund sentiment around each stock was calculated using the data of 867 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey.
Photo by Glenn Taubenfeld on Unsplash
Remote Work Stocks to Buy Now
10. Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is an enterprise software firm that provides workplace, security, and other professional services. Some of the remote work solutions offered by the firm include cloud-based file sharing and storage, mobility and device management, as well as protected internet access.
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) recently beat market estimates on earnings per share and revenue for the third quarter by $0.25 and $7.8 million respectively. However, the guidance numbers fell short of expectations.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, New York-based investment firm Cantillon Capital Management is a leading shareholder in Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) with 2.5 million shares worth more than $277 million.
Just like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM), Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is one of the stocks on the radar of hedge funds.
9. Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE:FVRR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29
Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE:FVRR) owns and runs an online marketplace for talent. This marketplace boasts at least 500 categories of work. It also offers a separate platform for those selling their talent to manage tasks, prepare invoices, and sign contracts.
MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni recently raised the price target on Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE:FVRR) stock to $175 from $170 but kept a Neutral rating on the shares, noting that the third quarter earnings of the firm were “better than expected”.
At the end of the third quarter of 2021, 29 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $520 million in Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE:FVRR).
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Baron Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE:FVRR) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“We sold out of Fiverr International Ltd., the marketplace for freelance services, since the stock ran up multiple fold since our purchase less than a year ago and traded at a valuation that we thought captured much of the future opportunity.”
8. Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35
Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) provides online human resource and employment services. The firm has hundreds of thousands of core active clients on the Upwork platform and employers spend $2.5 billion there on different services annually.
Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) recently posted earnings for the third quarter, reporting earnings per share of $0.04, beating estimates by $0.13. The revenue over the period was $128 million, up 32% year-on-year.
At the end of the third quarter of 2021, 35 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $418 million in Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK), up from 26 in the preceding quarter worth $427 million.
In its Q4 2020 investor letter, Spree Capital Advisers, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“Early in the fourth quarter we meaningfully increased our position size in Upwork (UPWK). Upwork is a global employment marketplace that enables businesses to vet, hire, and manage talent as part of their distributed workforce. Upwork facilitates labor and demand side connectivity on a global scale by providing the infrastructure to create trust and to streamline talent sourcing, contracting, analysis and payment. Freelancers benefit from having a reputation ranking system that feeds their marketing channels, allowing them to have access to quality, flexible work and on time compensation. Businesses on the demand side benefit by having extensive access to specialized talent, enabling faster and more cost effective hiring, and by having the strategic optionality inherent in the ability to flex a portion of their workforce based on changing demand requirements.
Labor markets have long had unnecessary frictional inefficiencies driven by regional talent imbalances and long-term trends of increased specialization of labor and declining labor mobility. Meanwhile, innovations in communication and global connectivity have transformed the way work gets done. Knowledge workers seek the flexibility and geographic advantages of on demand work, but the barrier to adoption has historically been established habits and work standards on the demand side. The Covid-19 global pandemic has broken down those barriers. We see three steps in the path to enterprise usage and shareholder value creation.
First, Upwork is reducing frictional barriers to on demand labor adoption on the demand side by modularizing the most common jobs served on the platform. Project Catalog is a collection of predefined projects that businesses purchase through an e-commerce purchase experience. Users on the demand side benefit from a frictionless way to purchase well defined, quality verified tasks to augment more complex work being done by full time employees. On demand workers on the supply side benefit from having a new avenue to market and sell the services they consistently perform. Importantly, Project Catalog widens the customer acquisition funnel by providing an easy on ramp for new customers to source and connect with talent, enabling businesses to quickly start with small projects and scale to larger and longer-term projects and relationships.
Second, Upwork is shifting its go to market strategy to target large enterprises. Currently, enterprise customers with more than 100 employees account for 20% of Upwork’s $2.7 billion in gross services volume. As part of shifting the go to market strategy, small and medium sized business customers will move to a fully self-service offering, allowing Upwork’s sales force to focus on capturing the $3.5 trillion in gross services volume that large enterprise customers currently spend on contingent labor. As Upwork’s sales team targets the large underserved market opportunity presented by enterprise customers and raises awareness of the quality verified modular work units available in Project Catalogue, there is a long runway for Upwork to power offline to online conversion in the on demand labor marketplace while breaking down the barriers to adoption and growing the overall size of the market.
Third, Upwork is evolving..”[read the entire letter here]
7. DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU) is a software firm most famous for providing e-signature solutions. These allow businesses to digitally prepare, sign, and manage agreements. The firm aims to automate workflows through this process.
DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU) recently announced that it would be partnering with software giant Salesforce to develop an artificial intelligence-based solution aimed at further automating the contract processes between businesses.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Management LLC is a leading shareholder in DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU) with 7.3 million shares worth more than $1.8 billion.
In its Q2 2021 investor letter, Carillon Tower Advisers, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“DocuSign provides electronic signature solutions. The firm reported an excellent quarter and investors have appreciated the strong growth combined with the excellent margins the company has posted. DocuSign has a long runway of growth ahead and we believe that it remains in a favorable position to continue gaining market share from traditional manual and paper-based signature solutions.”
6. Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 56
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) owns and runs a video communications platform. The platform has gained hundreds of millions of users in the past two years as more businesses opt for remote working solutions, using the Zoom platform to communicate.
Wells Fargo analyst Michael Turrin has an Equal Weight rating on Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) stock with a price target of $245. In an investor note, the analyst underlined that the revenue growth and operational margins for the firm were among the best in the software industry.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, New York-based firm Tiger Global Management LLC is a leading shareholder in Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) with 4.7 million shares worth more than $1.2 billion.
In addition to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM), Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) is one of the stocks attracting the attention of elite investors.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Artisan Partners, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“We concluded our campaigns in Zoom Video Communications. We have been paring our position in Zoom for several quarters, anticipating the reduced need for video conferencing as vaccination rates climb and people return to their workplaces. That said, we believe there is a strong case to be made that the pandemic has prompted a permanent inflection in videoconferencing’s importance—sustainably higher remote work arrangements, more online learning and less business travel. Furthermore, the company’s dramatically expanded user base (up 485% YoY in Q3) positions it well to cross sell additional services, Zoom Phone in particular. The long-term future remains bright, but we decided to end our successful investment campaign in favor of opportunities in our pipeline with more attractive near-term growth prospects.”
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Disclosure. None. 10 Remote Work Stocks to Buy Now is originally published on Insider Monkey.
