4 Cloud Computing Stocks to Beat Coronavirus Blues

The rapidly growing number of cases of coronavirus-infected patients across the globe has roiled the equity market. Schools and colleges are closed, with people working remotely since maintaining stringent social distancing measures is most crucial in preventing community transmission of the virus.

Thus, to stay connected, people are now relying heavily on the Internet, which has brightened prospects for cloud players.

Social Distancing

In view of the outbreak, which has been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, governments are imposing strict social distancing measures.

Notably, since the virus was first detected in China late last year, the total number of infected people across the world has increased to 1,484,811, as of Apr 8, per compiled data of Johns Hopkins University. In fact, the virus has already spread across 184 countries, claiming more than 88,000 lives, the compiled data suggests. On the bright side, the data shows recovery of 329,876 people.

Pandemic Boosts Cloud Computing Demand

Thus, in the battle against the pandemic, when mass gatherings are strictly restricted and people are being increasingly told to work from home, cloud computing companies have come to the rescue. Amid strict lockdown measures, there has been heightened demand for online classes, video conferencing, gaming, e-commerce shopping and remote project collaboration. Luckily in today’s world, such services are easily available.

Moreover, to deal with the outbreak, big-data has become one of the biggest assets for the healthcare industry. Thus, storing and managing this enormous amount of data are of utmost importance, where cloud computing firms are emerging as a key player.

Stocks to Gain

We are presenting one stock with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and three with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) that are well-positioned to gain amid the current scenario. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Headquartered in Redmond, WA, Microsoft Corporation MSFT, has been witnessing a considerable jump in Teams usage. In a single week, millions of daily users have spent calling and meeting minutes on the platform, thanks to the lockdown measures. The #3 Ranked company also announced that in March, the usage of Skype surged 70% with roughly 40 million people using the platform on a daily basis.

Based in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China,Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s BABA cloud business unitis willing to help medical professionals across the world in their research for coronavirus treatment. Since the need for China’s doctors to share information and knowledge related to the virus with the rest of the world is of paramount importance, the #2 Ranked company is planning to help them with the creation of a virtual community.

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, headquartered in Seattle, WA, provides reliable and cost-effective cloud computing services through Amazon Web Services (“AWS”). Notably, people are using AWS-hosted cloud software at a massive scale since they are working from home. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Headquartered in Mountain View, CA, Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL Google Cloud has seen a jump in its remote data storage and processing services. Google Hangouts Meet, which is the video conferencing and collaboration tool of the #3 Ranked company, has been witnessing a spike in daily usage. Google Classroom, developed by Google for students, has also witnessed usage at a massive scale.

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Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.