It's easy to play alphabet soup to come up with creative abbreviations for hot stocks. I whipped up MANA as a way to improve on the now iconic FAANG stocks in the fall of 2018 -- and two years later, MANA was smoking the original.
Fellow Fool Sean Williams cooked up TIPS as a new acronym last week, and I like the four stocks he went with. However, these are extraordinary times we live in, and it's time to realize that the big winners of 2020 aren't one-year flukes. I would like to propose a new acronym -- Zoom (ZM 1.46%), Amazon.com (AMZN -1.14%), Roku (ROKU 1.91%), and Peloton (PTON -0.97%) -- or ZARP. These are leaders of the current environment, and they should continue to be market bellwethers. Let's check out the investing world according to ZARP.
Image source: Getty Images.
Zoom
It's been a pretty explosive year for Zoom. A year ago, Zoom was a videoconferencing platform used largely by companies with remote workers or numerous offices. Now it's the hub of choice for schools, family reunions, and companies with work-from-home policies in place.
Zoom was doing just fine before. Revenue nearly doubled in its fiscal 2020, which ended in January. The top line is expected to nearly quadruple this fiscal year, and the way it's been jacking up its guidance every three months, don't be surprised if it lands well above that lofty growth goal here in fiscal 2021. The stock is up 662% this calendar year through Tuesday's close. Skeptics will argue that all of this growth will come undone when the pandemic fades in the rearview mirror, but that's not realistic. Companies are realizing that they're productive the way they're doing business now. Family reunions are easier, and our options for learning and entertainment are widening in Zoom's world. Things are just getting started.
Amazon.com
I did borrow one stock from the original FAANG, and that is Amazon. The leading online retailer continues to widen the gap of its e-commerce superiority, and it's killing it these days. The 40% increase in net sales it posted in the second quarter -- its first full quarter in these COVID-19-smacked times -- was roughly double the growth it posted through all of last year.
Amazon has proved to be an all-weather winner. It thrives when times are good and we have money to spend. It thrives when times are bad -- you know, like now when we're deep into a pandemic and recessions -- as it translates its scale and fulfillment expertise to deliver prices and speed that are hard to beat in the online realm.
It's convenient that it's also Prime Day right now, illustrating the ability of a shopping tastemaker so powerful that it can create a sales holiday and have everybody else piggyback on the movement. Prime Day also is a show of force of Amazon's loyal fan base, with more than 100 million members worldwide paying for access to expedited delivery and other digital perks.
Roku
It's easy to see why Zoom and Amazon have thrived in this climate, and Roku is another no-brainer. It's the leading streaming video hub, fueling the digital video experience for a growing number of homes in the golden age of cord cutting.
There are now 43 million active Roku accounts, a 41% surge over the past year. Roku is free to use, but average revenue per user continues marching higher since it serves up ads to its growing audience and collects commissions when its delivers a new subscriber to a partner service.
Peloton
We've got the home office, shopping needs, and entertainment covered with the first three components of ZARP, but now it's time to get active. Peloton has become the shiniest star in the at-home fitness movement. The pandemic has limited our ability to safely get a gym workout or participate in a cramped spinning class. Peloton's treadmills and stationary bikes are keeping us physically from coming undone with its interactive sessions that re-create the group session from the convenience of home.
The number of Peloton owners is soaring. Revenue surged 172% in its latest quarter. Retention and usage are also sky-high, not a surprise when folks spend four figures on workout gear. Peloton's move this summer to expand its product offerings at broader price points will keep making it relevant. Even when it's safe to go back to your fitness center, you're probably going to want to stay in and give your Peloton a workout instead.
