3 e-Learning Stocks to Leverage EduTech Concept Amid Coronavirus

The harrowing impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to rattle the global economy. Sectors like travel, bricks and mortar retail, real estate, automobile were some of the worst-hit by this ongoing crisis while spaces like biotech, pharma and MedTech plus online retail rebounded steadily.

Technology is one such sector, which has been gaining momentum since the outbreak of coronavirus, banking on the surge in several online education and remote-learning tools as well as platforms. With the onset of the pandemic-induced lockdowns, majority of the academic institutions shifted to e-learning solutions to complete the curriculum as well as enforce a preventive measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Additionally, other government and private sector organizations have also been switching to virtual-learning methods over time to maintain social distancing. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been imparting healthcare professionals a slew of online training courses about the risks and treatment of COVID-19 patients. In the wake of the pandemic, the corporate sector took recourse to Internet learning for conducting training programs and collaborative initiatives, such as project work and assignments via chats, discussion forums and blogs.

Per a ResearchandMarkets report, the global online education market is anticipated to reach a total worth of $319.17 billion in 2025, seeing a CAGR of 9.23% during the 2020-2025 forecast period.

With the pandemic understandably making the virtual delivery of education the need of the hour, the online education sector now plans to continue cashing in on this prevalent trend even in the long term. In such a scenario, video conferencing platforms like Zoom and WebEx as well as learning management software-based systems like Infrastructure’s Canvas, Blackboard and Google Classroom steadily became the go-to options for most consumers.

In this regard, Strategic Education STRA can be cited as a foremost example, which has been offering students an opportunity to explore new career options with various professional development courses through its subsidiary Sophia Learning online education platform.

3 Stocks in Focus

Here are three Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) and 3 (Hold) companies, which have been capitalizing on the e-learning wave and its associated tools amid the unrelenting pandemic since last year.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

Chegg, Inc. CHGG: This CA-based leading textbook sales and rental company diversified extensively in the arena of online-education study tools and digital services like Chegg Study, Chegg Writing and Chegg Tutors. The company saw growth in its targeted consumer base amid the pandemic.

Over the past year, shares of this currently Zacks Rank #3 company have soared 129% compared with the industry’s rally of 93.1%. The estimated EPS growth rate over the next five years is 26.6% compared with the industry’s 21.5%.

Microsoft Corporation MSFT: This presently Zacks Rank #2 company’s premier e-learning business Bigger Brains is consistently launching key initiatives to aid remote learning. The company offers teachers its popular learning app Brainbot temporarily to facilitate the delivery of workflow training and training reinforcement through Microsoft Teams, Slack, Facebook and email. Microsoft Office 365 apps and Partner tools also broadened the scope for engagement via integrated applications and content for students and educators in the era of e-learning.

Over the past year, shares of this company have soared 48.8% compared with the industry’s rally of 46.4%. The estimated EPS growth rate over the next five years is 12.7% compared with the industry’s 12.5%.

GP Strategies Corporation GPX: This presently Zacks Rank #1 leading provider of virtual training and learning solutions, management consulting and engineering services inked a new partnership deal with SaaS-based platform Whatfix in October 2020. The pact aimed at boosting the company’s portfolio of digital adoption solutions and guided-learning services provided to its clients to facilitate workforce transformation, digital workflows and modern-learning experiences.

Over the past year, the stock has surged 145.2% compared with the industry’s rally of 10.8%. The estimated EPS growth rate over the next year is 22.9% compared with the industry’s 17.1%.

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