Pass the Purell... We've been hearing plenty about companies shutting down stores in China (Apple, Starbucks), cancelling flights (Delta, American), and overall losing millions from the coronavirus spread. Travel, oil, tech, luxury goods — all lost out. But some companies and industries have surprisingly benefited...
- Cleaning/Hygiene: Clorox wipes. Hand sanitizers. Masks. Humans are reaching for cleansing options during a viral outbreak, sending shares of Clorox, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate all up last week. The CEO of 3M is ramping up production of mouth/nose-covering masks too (currently in a shortage).
- Video Conferencing: The biggest Work-From-Home experiment ever is going on in China right now. People who need to be in the room during big meetings can't enter their offices. Hence, video conferencing. Zoom shares have climbed 25% over the past week on hopes it'll get tried — and kept.
- Pharma/Biotech: Mostly companies that say they're in the process of working on a coronavirus vaccine. Vir Biotechnology surged 111% over the past month, while Novavax popped 91%, and Inovio Pharmaceuticals is up 37% (even though a working vaccine could be years away).
And let's not forget these other investments... When things in the stock market get bumpy, some investors look for perceived "safer" places to put their money (think gold, treasury bills, and bonds). These "safe-haven" assets aren't usually as affected by market drops as stocks are. Unrelated, but also thriving in uncertainty: Bitcoin, which has gained 30% since the end of 2019.
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