edwinFebruary 19, 2020, marked the stock market peak before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a freefall in share prices. In the year since, the world has changed, transforming our lives, our economies, and the fortunes of our businesses—an unfolding journey that is reflected in the ups and downs of share prices. The fundamental trends have accelerated, propelling some companies forward at record speed while for others headwinds have turned into hurricane
The ‘Mega 25’ surge ahead
Over the past year, 25 companies have recorded market-capitalization gains that put them in a category of their own. They collectively added $5.8 trillion in value, with average increases of $231 billion (Exhibit 2). Given that the overall market rose by $14 trillion over the past 12 months, these 25 companies represent a whopping 40 percent of the total gains.
The majority of these companies had mega-capitalizations before the crisis, but 11 started with market values below $100 billion. Many of these found themselves at the epicenter of the forces at play. Consider Zoom, a company whose name has become a verb for many of us, which added $93 billion to its market value over the past year.
Just beyond the Mega 25, an additional 28 companies gained more than $50 billion of market capitalization. Many of these are in the same four sectors as the top 22, alongside companies directly benefiting from pandemic-related demand such as those involved in COVID-19 treatments and testing, digital entertainment, and e-commerce. Collectively, these 28 runners-up increased their value by $1.8 trillion, representing 12 percent of the total gains made by the 5,000 companies in our sample. Added together, the total set of 53 companies covers more than half of the market gain.
source: mckinsey & company