But during this upheaval, some companies have thrived due to dramatic changes in consumer behavior.
Restaurants, bars, offices and gyms are largely empty while millions of Americans stay home to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This created new opportunities for several companies.
Popular video games such as first person shooters, football and cute animals have been an advantage for the best game companies.
Activision Blizzard (ATVI) “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare”, released in September, has sold more copies than any other “Call of Duty” title at this point since its release. Sales were $ 1.52 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 21% compared
with $ 1.26 billion last year.
For
Electronic arts (IT’S AT), fourth quarter revenue grew 12% over
with last year. It was supported by FIFA, Madden NFL, The Sims 4. Like Activision, it has also benefited from people who stay at home and are looking for a
distraction.
Nintendo (NTDOF) he said Thursday that his annual profit has risen 41%, the highest in the past nine years. And the profit in the first three months of 2020 more than tripled compared to the previous quarter.
Sales this spring were driven by the success of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”, a game set on a utopian island. The company sold over 13 million gaming units in its first six weeks. The Nintendo Switch console also continues to be difficult to find, with the company selling over 21 million units in the past fiscal year.
Clorox Company and Reckitt Benckiser
People cannot stop disinfecting, painting and cleaning every corner of their homes. This is beneficial for Clorox and Reckitt Benckiser, the manufacturers of the best cleaning products in the world.
Clorox (CLX) said last week that its overall sales increased 15% in the first quarter. Sales in the Clorox cleaning segment, which includes towels and beaches, increased by 32%. There was also “growing consumer demand” for cat waste and the need for grilling, which fueled a 2% increase in sales in its domestic segment.
Reckitt Benckiser (RBGLY), the British company that manufactures Lysol and Dettol, is also seeing record sales. First quarter sales rose 13.5% due to “strong consumer demand” for disinfectants. (The company has also found itself in the spotlight for more than high demand for its products.)
In March and April, sales of aerosol disinfectants increased by 230.5% and multipurpose cleaners by 109.1% over last year, according to research firm Nielsen.
peloton
peloton (PtOn) manufactures products for home training, including bikes and treadmills. Not surprisingly, Wednesday experienced a quarter of a burst: revenue grew 66% and adherence to its app increased by 30%. The company, which has a loyal following, has also increased forecasts for the whole year because it does not expect demand to decline soon.
Publix and Kroger
The need for groceries and household necessities has benefited some of the largest food stores in the country, which have remained open as essential businesses.
Publix recently said sales for the first three months of the year rose 10% to $ 1 billion. Sales in stores open at least one year grew by 14.4%.
Kroger (KR) also benefited from the pandemic. The grocery store recently said that sales in stores that have been open for at least a year have increased by 30% in March. His best sellers were canned dishes and cleaning products and paper. As a result, Kroger said he expected the first quarter results to be better than expected.
Beyond the meat
Beyond the meat (BYND)Revenue more than doubled in the first quarter, the company reported Tuesday. In the first three months of the year, sales reached $ 97.1 million, up 141% from $ 40.2 million in the same period last year.
The results “exceeded our expectations,” said CEO Ethan Brown. In the United States, retail sales grew 157% over the same period last year. The plant-based meat company is in a strong position when it moves to the Chinese market and while the United States faces a shortage of domestic meat.
3M
3M (MMM) He said the virus has spurred “strong growth” for its personal safety products, including N95 clothes and respiratory masks needed by medical professionals. First quarter revenue grew nearly 3% to $ 8.08 billion. This was supported by 21% growth in its healthcare segment and 4.6% growth in consumer goods, such as Scotch-Brite sponges
Wayfair and Overstock
With much of the country working from home, he leaves a lot of time thinking about renovating the room.
Wayfair (W)Sales in the most recent quarter increased 20% over the same period last year. The online retailer said it is seeing “a sharp acceleration in new and repeat customer orders,” with orders growing 21% to 9.9 million.
Rival
overstock (OSTK) He also said that April retail sales increased 120% over the same month last year, with growth occurring in its “key home furnishings categories”.
Loosening and Zoom
For people who can work remotely, Slack and Zoom have become ubiquitous communication tools.
slack (WORK) Technologies said it added 9,000 new paid customers, an 80% increase over the previous quarter between February 1 and March 25. Not only are they adding more people, but users are getting more talkative: “The number of messages sent per user per day has increased on average by 20% globally,” Slack said in a print
publication.
Enlarge (ZM), a video conferencing tool, was clearly the biggest brand to launch. The company hosts 300 million meeting attendees per day, according to CEO Eric Yuan. Previously, Zoom claimed to have gone through 200 million attendees at the daily meeting in March. The stock has increased by 120% for the year.
