Earlier this week, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing the virus. The optimistic news suggests a not-so-optimistic future for quarantine-friendly businesses that took off during the pandemic.
Shares of technology stocks like Zoom and Netflix fell that morning, with Zoom’s stock down more than 17% and Netflix down almost 8%. Meanwhile, travel and out-of-home entertainment saw a boost. TripAdvisor shares were up 21% Monday morning. Online-ticketing company EventBrite watched its shares soar 36%.
Be it pandemic fatigue or hope for a vaccine, something is plaguing the stay-home tech industry, and has been for the last month. In addition to Monday’s stock slump, the Facebook data for Zoom, Netflix, and Peloton doesn’t look promising. Netflix’s Facebook mentions have dropped by 52% in the last month, while Zoom’s and Peloton’s have declined by 24% and 26%, respectively.
Despite rising COVID cases, it seems people are growing more comfortable with in-person meetings and spin classes. They’re also warming up to the idea of pandemic era travel. Mentions of Trviago US have shot up a whopping 119% since October.
Apple App Store ratings for Etsy, the unofficial hub of handmade masks, have slowed. In May, Etsy’s ratings count grew 21% month-over-month. The month-over-month growth has since shrunk to 7%. The tech company’s shares were down nearly 19% following Monday’s vaccine news.
Peloton’s App Store ratings count is currently seeing 5% growth month-over-month, down from 32% in May. Zoom’s ratings growth has dropped from May’s 81% to just 8% month-over-month.
Eventually, companies that position themselves around at-home lifestyles will have to pivot for a post-pandemic world. But the timeline is uncertain, to put it lightly. Another COVID wave could lead us back to watching Netflix in between Zoom meetings before we know it.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online, jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings, and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
