Zika Scare Could Benefit Aerial Spraying And Bug Repellent Stocks

An increasing number of confirmed cases of the Zika virus inside the U.S. has Americans taking notice. The latest data from TickerTags indicates that Zika may soon have a major impact on at least one U.S. market.

TickerTags monitors social media sites to identify trends by searching for words or phrases that appear together in social media content, such as tweets.

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Increasing social buzz about the Zika virus could provide a major boost for makers of bug repellent and aerial pesticide sprays, such as American Vanguard Corp. AVD, FMC Corp FMC and Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. SPB.

Message boards are a popular way for concerned citizens to voice their concerns about Zika online. Social mentions of “aerial spray” and “aerial spray” + “mosquito” on message boards are up 179 percent so far in 2016 compared to the same period last year. While mentions were up 33 percent year-over-year in Q2, discussions seem to be accelerating in recent months. In fact, mentions are up a whopping 333 percent so far in Q3.

Organic Twitter mentions related to mosquito/ insect repellent and bug spray are also up 43 percent year-over-year in Q3.

So far this year, all three stocks mentioned above are up at least 18.4 percent.