In this article, we will take a look at the 15 Companies That Benefited The Most From The Pandemic. You can skip our detailed analysis of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and industry trends following the crisis and skip ahead to the 5 Companies That Benefited The Most From The Pandemic.
The coronavirus crisis has crushed the global economy. The pandemic’s effects will continue to reverberate throughout the world for decades to come. The pandemic has not only killed over 2.5 million people worldwide but also disrupted each nation’s economy. Since February 2020, approximately 9.5 million jobs have been lost in the U.S. according to the jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The study from Edelman Financial states that more than half of the American adults believe that the COVID-19 pandemic is worse than the 2008 Great Recession.
Industries That Struggled
Many industries have been directly impacted by the pandemic, especially restaurant, airlines, cruises, media production, manufacturing, retail, oil, and gas. According to a poll, 70% of small business owners were concerned about surviving the pandemic due to prolonged closures while 58% worry about having to permanently close.
In May 2020, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by more than 622 points, the S&P 500 by more than 81 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index by more than 284 points. The stock market slid after major tech companies announced the effects of COVID-19.
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Survival of the Fittest
Businesses were quick to adapt to the new normal. Retail stores started investing in e-commerce platforms. The manufacturing industry implemented strict health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In film production, media companies are integrating AI technology and virtual reality. With the mandated half-capacity dine-in option, restaurants are firing up cloud kitchen strategies to deliver food to your doorstep. Distant learning and work-from-home setups are the new normal and the biggest cloud companies are enjoying the demand. The pandemic challenged millions of businesses worldwide but also buoyed various sectors.
For example, freelancing platform Upwork Inc (NASDAQ:UPWK) which went public in 2018 saw its biggest year-over-year revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2020. Gross service volume jumped 33% year-over-year to $727.7 million. Revenue jumped 32% to $106 million. Revenue grew 32% year-over-year to $106.2 million. The company said in its “Freelance Forward: 2020” report that freelancers in the U.S. are adding a whopping $1.2 trillion to the economy. Upwork’s data shows that 59 million Americans performed freelance work in the 12-month period through September 2020. This is a 36% jump from the same period the previous year.
Tech Sector Thrives During the Pandemic
The tech industry is full of companies that benefitted the most from the pandemic. According to a McKinsey Global Survey, the pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of companies from supply-chain to internal operations by three to four years. Technology has been a coping tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data analytics are the key advancements in the tech world that help us battle the negative effects of COVID-19. Based on Deloitte’s 2021 Technology Outlook, the cloud computing industry is forecasted to reach a revenue of $308.5 billion in 2021 and $356.4 billion by 2022.
Companies That Benefited The Most From The Pandemic
To give you the most accurate insights about the 15 companies that benefited the most from the pandemic, we reviewed each company’s market cap from 2019 and compared it to 2020. We rank the companies based on the difference in the market cap for 2020 and 2019.
Let’s see the companies that benefited the most from the pandemic starting from number 15.
15. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $1.2 trillion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $1.68 trillion
Market cap added: $0.478 billion
Microsoft, one of the the most valuable cloud computing company in the world, ranks 15th on our list of the 15 companies that benefited the most from the pandemic. At the end of the fiscal year 2020, MSFT had a market cap of $1.68 trillion, an increase of 39.83% compared to the same period in 2019.
MSFT’s stock price increased from $157.70 in Dec 2019 to $222 in Dec 2020. Thanks to the robustness of Microsoft’s cloud business The company recorded a ground-breaking revenue of $143 billion in 2020, compared to $125 billion in 2019.
Microsoft’s technology helped millions of businesses to survive a challenging year in the healthcare sector, wherein virtual simulations were conducted through Azure to a real-life experience of NBA games. Intelligent cloud and productivity and business processes products, used by thousands of tech companies and educational institutes for remote learning, are the primary revenue drivers for Microsoft.
Image by Tawanda Razika from Pixabay
14. Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $18.81 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $66.5 billion
Market cap added: $77.67 billion
Zoom offers a video communication platform and is headquartered in California. At the end of the fiscal year 2020, ZM had a market cap of $66.5 billion, an increase of 412.92% compared to the same period in 2019. As of April 2020, Zoom had 300 million active users compared to Microsoft Teams’ 200 million participants.
Zoom is one of the best software stocks that stole the spotlight from the biggest video conferencing software right at the beginning of the pandemic where businesses were forced to transition digitally due to lockdown. Zoom enjoyed a profit of $882.5 million in the last quarter of 2020, an increase of 370% compared to the same period in 2019.
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13. Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $46.29 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $138.7 billion
Market cap added: 92.42 billion
Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify ranks 13th on our list of the 15 companies that benefited the most from the pandemic. At the end of the fiscal year 2020, SHOP had a market cap of $138.7 billion, an increase of 199.63% compared to the same period in 2019. Shares of SHOP increased 170.47% over the past twelve months. Based on Shopify’s full-year financial report, the company announced total revenue of $2.9 billion, an increase of 86% over 2019.
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that provides business software and tools for small and medium-sized enterprises. The company granted millions of opportunities to merchants as 44 million customers bought from Shopify merchants in 2020.
12. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $141.98 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $239.49
Market cap added: $97.51 billion
California-based Netflix is one of the biggest companies that benefited from the pandemic. At the end of the fiscal year 2020, NFLX had a market cap of $$239.49 billion, an increase of 68% compared to the same period in 2019. Shares of NFLX soared 48% over the past 12 months. At the end of 2020, the company announced that its paying subscribers surpassed 200 million as opposed to over 150 million in 2019, and recorded a $25 billion annual revenue.
In the first quarter of 2020, Netflix witnessed a temporary surge in membership growth mainly due to stay-at-home orders from the governments all around the world. NFLX accounted for 40% of the global streaming market in 2019 but fell slightly amid strong competition from Walt Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) Disney Plus, Hulu, and Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Amazon Prime.
Copyright: lculig / 123RF Stock Photo
11. T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ: TMUS)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $67.2 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $167.46 billion
Market cap added: $100.26 billion
Washington-based T-Mobile offers wireless communication services worldwide. At the end of the fiscal year 2020, T Mobile had a market cap of $167.46 billion, an increase of 149.2% compared to the same period in 2019. The stock price of T-Mobile increased to over $130 per share in December 2020 from $78 over the same period in 2019. TMUS achieved total revenue of $68 billion in 2020 compared to $45 billion in 2019.
T-Mobile completed its $26 billion-merger with wireless company Sprint in April 2020 to create a new T-Mobile to deliver a transcendent 5g network to the world.
10. Meituan (OTC: MPNGY)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $76.63 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $219.18 billion
Market cap added: $92.41 billion
Beijing-based e-commerce platform Meituan ranks 10th on our list of the 15 companies that benefit the most from the pandemic. At the end of the fiscal year 2020, Meituan had a market cap of $219 billion, an increase of 186% compared to the same period in 2019. The company reported a $5 billion overall operating revenue in the third quarter of 2020, a 28% increase over the year. Food home deliveries accounted for 58% of the company’s overall revenue amounting to $3 billion.
Meituan is the leading food delivery service in China with more than 67% of the market share. As of the third quarter of 2020, the Meituan provides a platform to 6.5 million merchants and 476.5 million annual transacting users.
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9. PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $126.9 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $274.5 billion
Market cap added: $147.6 billion
Ranking 9th on our list of the companies that benefited the most from the pandemic is PayPal. The California-based digital payment company had a market cap of $274.5 billion in 2020, a 116.33% increase compared to its market cap in 2019. The growth of the company was largely driven by the pandemic where lockdown protocols surged the digital payment transactions. PayPal’s full-year revenue grew by 21% in 2020 amounting to $21.45 billion.
Paypal is an online payments platform that offers users to send and receive money, pay bills, and donate money anonymously. PayPal ended 2020 with 377 million active users and ambitiously aims to double it by 2025. In October 2020, PayPal announced its new cryptocurrency service which allows U.S.-based users to buy, hold, and sell in selected cryptos directly in their platform. PayPal plans to add its crypto trading feature in its money transfer subsidiary Venmo.
Shares of PYPL increased by 135% over the last twelve months.
8. Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $43.87 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $217.88 billion
Market cap added: $173.91 billion
By the end of December 2020, Pinduoduo had a market cap of $217.8 billion, an increase of 395% from the same period in 2019. Despite being a newcomer in the e-commerce sector, the Shanghai-based company recorded in its third-quarter results a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $217 billion in the last $12 months. On top of that, PDD delivered revenue of $2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2020.
Pinduoduo is a new e-commerce platform that offers a “team purchase” model in which users can invite their contacts to form a shopping team to get a lower price for their purchase. The company’s bulk-selling model has been successful through the years in that it had surpassed China’s second-largest e-commerce conglomerate, JD.com’s market value.
7. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $144 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $323.24 billion
Market cap added: $179.24 billion
California-based tech company NVIDIA ranks 7th on our list of the 15 companies that benefited the most from the pandemic. At the end of 2020, NVDA had a market cap of $323.24 billion, an increase of 124% compared to the same period in 2019. NVIDIA announced a full-year revenue of $16.68 billion, an increase of 53% from the previous year.
NVIDIA is one of the biggest manufacturers of chips and graphic processors. NVIDIA’s newest A100 GPU’s for data analytics and rendering are being deployed by top data center companies making its graphics sector record revenue of $6.17 billion. Besides, the surge of cryptocurrency is also contributing to the sales of NVDA’s high-end GPUs.
6. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)
Market cap on Dec 31, 2019: $585.37 billion
Market cap on Dec 31, 2020: $778.23 billion
Market cap added: $192.86 billion
Social networking giant Facebook is one of the companies that benefited the most from the pandemic. The company had a market cap of $778.34 billion in 2020, a 32% increase from its value in the previous year. Facebook announced its full-year revenue of over $85 billion capping a strong year that ended on December 31, 2020.
Facebook experienced heavy daily traffic on its social media platform with an average of 2.8 billion monthly active users as of December 2020. In March 2020, Facebook saw a steep decline in ad revenue due to the pandemic. Businesses reduced their ad spending, causing Facebook to lose revenue on ads. But for Facebook, if it’s not a yet happy ending, it’s not yet the end as data shows that ad revenue was responsible for $84.2 billion of the total revenue in 2020. As one of the biggest VR companies in the world, Facebook showed strong revenue from its new VR headset “Oculus Quest 2” which was launched in October 2020.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Companies That Benefited The Most From The Pandemic is originally published at Insider Monkey.
