Technology

Zoom, Peloton Shares Rise on New Covid Variant Fears

Source: Nasdaq
  • Shares of Zoom and Peloton shares closed up more than 5% on Friday as the concern of a new Covid variant boosted some stay-at-home stocks.
  • Shares of companies that have benefitted from the reopening were down among a broader market selloff.

Zoom shares closed up 5.7% and Peloton stock closed up 5.6% Friday as concerns of a new Covid variant in South Africa tumbled markets. Shares of Netflix and Roku, two other stay-at-home companies that have benefited from the pandemic, were up about 1.6% for the day.

Zoom and Peloton are still down 34% and 69% for the year, respectively, as people have returned to work, school and gyms.

The extent of the spread of the new variant is still unknown and it's unclear what kind of impact, if any, it will have. But, it's a reversal from earlier in the month, after travel companies like Delta, Airbnb, Expedia pointed to clear signs of recovery in recent earnings reports and as stay-at-home stocks like Peloton, Zoom and Netflix declined amid indications that the Covid-19 pandemic end might come sooner than expected.

Meanwhile, shares of companies that have benefitted from the reopening were down for the day among a broader market selloff. Expedia closed down 9.4%. Lyft, Airbnb and Uber stock fell more than 3%.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.3%, the Nasdaq composite slipped 2.3% on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.5%, or 905 points, marking its worst day of the year.

Correction: An earlier version of this story was updated to reflect proper year-to-date declines for Zoom and Peloton.

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