Good Note From COVID-19: Prospering Companies Amid Pandemic

It’s worrisome that the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting business and investor community across the world. It’s more worrisome that currently, contemporary global and interconnected businesses bear serious risk, owing to global supply chain disruptions that can lead to revenue loss. What’s even worrisome is the fact that traditional resilience planning might not suffice in preparing well for addressing the impacts of a pandemic.

But not all has been grim- currently, business leaders have the unique chance to shape, build and leverage their business cultures to create great, memorable impact for their companies. Moreover, as they say, that exceptions prove the rule, there have been market winning, prospering companies amid the pandemic- a period wherein, most companies have struggled financially (and continue to!).

Let us look at 5 companies from across the world that have emerged as clear winners in the ongoing market uncertainty.

Amazon.com, Inc.

Jeff Bezos’ net worth has reportedly smashed headlines yet again, as he recently touched a fortune of more than USD 171 billion. With the pandemic accelerating consumer shift to e-commerce, the Company has been truly the emergency port for those who needed vital goods in lockdowns.

Reportedly, the Company anticipates that it could spend USD 4 billion to keep logistics up and running amid the coronavirus crisis. Besides this, the Company is offering a special one-time Thank You bonus worth over USD 500 million to its employees and partners. Moreover, it has established a USD 25 million relief fund for partners, with donations and philanthropy flowing too towards the crisis- for instance, USD 20 million AWS Diagnostic Initiative to accelerate the COVID-19 research.

Novavax, Inc.

Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, clinical-stage biotechnology company, Novavax has been a market darling of late, owing to its active involvement in the hunt for a vaccine for COVID-19. So much so, the stock had a market cap of USD 93 Million at the start of the year and as of 6 July, this figure stands at a whopping USD 4.60 Billion. In the previous 3-month period, share price of Novavax skyrocketed by over 475%.

The Company opines that it possibly has a vaccine candidate for the invisible enemy of today and is also racing to expand its manufacturing capacity. In March, the Company reported encouraging outcomes from a phase 3 clinical study of its potential flu vaccine, NanoFlu, designed for the treatment of adults aged 65 and above.

More recently in May, the Company initiated a phase 1/2 clinical trial of its investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, with the first trial to be conducted in Australia to test the vaccine's safety and immunogenicity and the second one in several countries to test safety, immunity, and disease reduction in a broader age range of participants.

Alibaba Group

Specialising in e-commerce, retail, internet, and technology, Alibaba is China’s largest technology company. Amid COVID-19, the Company reportedly announced plans to invest funds worth USD 28 Billion in its infrastructure over the next three-year period, with major focus on expanding its cloud operations.

Alibaba is also emerging as one of the biggest corporate winners in the Asian country amid the pandemic. The Company has been registering spike in demand for services like food delivery and traffic in its online marketplaces. Moreover, it has been strengthening its status as a key part of China’s socio-economic engine and gaining the opportunity to boost its businesses.

Moreover, in May, Alibaba reported increases of 21 per cent in quarterly revenue and 19 per cent in core commerce sales, above expectations. The Company has launched a new initiative to scale up global recruitment and training efforts for businesses, and in the wake of COVID-19, its 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival was an opportunity to fuel economic recovery – domestically, for foreign trade partners and brands across the globe.

Atomo Diagnostics Limited

Atomo Diagnostics Limited (ASX:AT1) is an Australia-based specialist medical device design innovator and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) company, which has emerged as a global leader in the development of point-of-care devices for rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) and has demonstrated transformative impact of rapid HIV detection, globally.

Following an oversubscribed IPO on ASX in April this year, AT1, the first ASX virtual bell ringing listing, made ample buzz post raising a total of $ 30 Million at the offer price of $ 0.20 per share. According to co-founder and Managing Director, John Kelly, the IPO made the Company well-capitalised and capable to meet growing demand for the coronavirus reliable rapid testing in the community, with the Company registering strong interest in the use of its integrated rapid test device for the testing of COVID-19.

On 4 June 2020, the Company announced the expansion of its existing COVID-19 rapid test partnership with NG Biotech, SAS, gaining exclusive rights to market and distribute the COVID-19 antibody test as the listed manufacturer in Australia, New Zealand and several South East Asian nations.

Sea Limited

Based in Singapore, leading global consumer internet company, Sea Limited is South East Asia’s biggest listed technology company. According to Chairman and Group CEO Forrest Li, the Company is privileged to be in a robust position, aiding communities to navigate through this unprecedented period and get back on the path towards recovery. It launched SME recovery programs, accelerated growth of staple and essential goods segment of its e-commerce platform, quickened the pace of rollout of its mobile wallet services, to name a few efforts to empower the communities.

In Q120, the Company reported total adjusted revenue of USD 913.9 million, up 57.9 per cent year-on-year, and total gross profit of USD 206.8 million, up a whopping 424.1 per cent year-on-year.

Current cataclysmic times require businesses to employ measured approaches to keep their workforce safe, lessen operational and financial exposure, and hit the ground running. Though the WHO reported 11.3 Million confirmed cases as on 6 July 2020, comprehensive approach adoption by nations, vigorous testing, ramped up vaccine trials and staged reopening can help the world adopt to the “new normal”.