The coronavirus pandemic became the main topic of discussion among authorities, healthcare professionals, scientists as well as the owners of companies. It is possible to continue the list as the pandemic affected the vast majority of private and governmental organizations. It is not surprising that investors are closely monitoring the situation regarding the stocks.
Importantly, several of last year’s 159 initial public offerings (IPO), including highly volatile stocks such as Slack, Beyond Meat, and Zoom strengthened their positions in 2020.
Moreover, all of them saw gains despite the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, stocks of Slack, Zoom, and Beyond Meat rose even though the demand for IPO’s is expected to drop significantly.
For example, in the first quarter of 2020, only 35 companies went public. As a result, compared with the same period in 2019, the number of companies that went public fell by 15%. Moreover, in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2019, the number of such companies dropped by 35%.
Governments in most countries imposed restrictions to contain the pandemic. Thus,many people spend more time at home. Many of them are using Zoom as well as Slack to work from home.
Furthermore, demand for Beyond Meat’s plant-based products could become more popular due to the coronavirus pandemic. There are certain issues related to meat. For instance, meat safety and the availability of beef.
New Stocks and major challenges
Interestingly, apart from Slack, Beyond Meat, and Zoom many other newcomers are also doing well. Virgin Galactic, Peleton, and Chewy all of them soared in 2020.
Furthermore, the Rennaisance IPO ETF which includes many of the best offerings of 2019, is flat in 2020. At the same time, the S&P 500 fell by 11%.
Unfortunately, not all of last year’s stocks are thriving as can be seen from the examples of Uber and Lyft. The coronavirus pandemic had a huge impact on both of them. Also, it will be quite difficult for ridesharing companies to turn a profit anytime soon.
Another example is Pinterest, as shares of the photo-sharing social media site rose by 12% in 2020. However, shares of Pinterest fell after it reported earnings on Tuesday.
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