The COVID-19 crisis has been crushing most aspects of the economy, and rightfully so. We're stuck at home. A growing number of us are unemployed. There is more uncertainty than optimism. However, naturally there are some companies that are finding ways to to not only survive but actually thrive in this climate.
Zoom Video (ZM 1.02%), Netflix (NFLX -0.57%), and Peloton Interactive (PTON 5.45%) have put out some pretty resilient metrics in recent days. Let's go over what is driving the growth at these three companies in a time when most of the world's publicly traded players find their fundamentals going the wrong way.
Image source: Netflix.
Zoom -- 300 million
Only folks working for companies with strong videoconferencing needs probably knew about Zoom before the coronavirus pandemic. The platform was hosting virtual meetings with as many as 10 million largely enterprise attendees a day back in December. Zoom turned heads last month when it announced that it was serving 200 million people a day in March. Last week, Zoom updated that number to reveal that it was hooking up 300 million attendees daily in April.
More businesses are now being run home, so many of Zoom's existing customers are leaning on the platform even more these days. However, the real surge has come from consumers as friends, families, and virtual classrooms are now on Zoom to stay connected. Zoom's audience of users has soared 30-fold in just four months, and while that won't translate into 30-fold jump in revenue -- most of the new users are free accounts -- it has made videoconferencing on Zoom ubiquitous.
Netflix -- 182.86 million
It's not a surprise to see Netflix on fire these days. We're stuck at home, and Netflix is the global leader in premium streaming video. Netflix still found a way to impress the market with last week's first-quarter report, revealing that it had a record 15.77 million in net subscriber additions for the quarter. Earlier guidance had called for just 7 million net adds.
There were a lot of impressive numbers in Netflix's report, especially when it came to viewership. If you think that 64 million Netflix homes streaming Tiger King is impressive, consider that La Casa De Papel -- the Spanish series titled Money Heist in English-speaking markets -- is projected to top Tiger King worldwide for the fourth season, which debuted earlier this month. Even the over-the-top Mark Wahlberg-helmed Spenser Confidential action flick attracted 85 million subscribers.
Peloton -- 23,000
Gyms are closed, and naturally that's giving at-home workouts a boost. Peloton was already gaining traction ahead of the coronavirus outbreak with well-to-do fitness seekers, arming folks willing to make four-figure investments with treadmills and stationary bikes that are tethered wirelessly to Peloton's growing catalog of workouts.
Engagement was also on the rise, and obviously that's only intensifying now during the shelter-in-place mandate. Peloton revealed it had a record 23,000 members taking part in the debut for a live spinning class last Wednesday morning, shattering its former record of 19,000 stationary bike riders.
It's probably not a surprise to see all three stocks crushing the market this year, as that is what Wall Street's top stocks do. Zoom Video, Netflix, and Peloton Interactive are making the most of a globally challenging situation, and investors better be taking notes.
