How The COVID-19 Pandemic Turned Amazon, Netflix Into Essential Businesses

A number of companies such as Netflix, Inc. NFLX and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN have been well-positioned to benefit from the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

With theaters closed, more consumers are opting for streaming and home entertainment platforms like Netflix. Many countries are on lockdown and people are choosing to stay home and binge some movies.

As shops have closed and lockdowns have been imposed globally, Amazon has seen business booms. 

Amazon.com is looking to hire another 75,000 workers across delivery and warehouses as it seeks to meet the increased e-commerce demand during the pandemic.

Amazon.com is restarting the delivery of products deemed non-essential as the website became overwhelmed after the coronavirus became a pandemic. 

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Brown: 'Amazon Became A Utility' 

Both Netflix and Amazon.com have become the conventional "stay-at-home" stocks.

Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO and CNBC commentator Josh Brown recently compared Amazon to a utility stock in a crisis and said in a tweet that both companies have continued to spend money on capex and R&D maintaining a furious hiring pace.

Amazon became a utility in this crisis - defensive, reliable, indispensable.

Netflix became a pharmaceutical, an inadvetent cure for mass anxiety, a panacea for a populace trapped in their homes.

— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) April 14, 2020

BofA Securities analyst Nat Schindler has maintained a Buy rating on Netflix with a $426 price target.

BofA already thought Netflix could be insulated from a coronavirus-related downturn, but the new data may support the notion that it could even see fundamental improvement due to the crisis, the analyst said.  

AMZN, NFLX Price Action

Amazon.com shares were up 1.07% at $2,307.68 at the close Wednesday. The stock has a 52-week

Netflix shares were 3.19% higher at $426.75. The stock has a 52-week high of $430.98 and a 52-week low of $252.28.

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Photo courtesy of Amazon.