Stocks on Wall Street appear to be waiting for a session on Wednesday as the results of the US presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden came in with no clear winner. Nonetheless, Trump has already falsely claimed and demanded no more votes be counted.
The market is facing a period of short-term uncertainty and turbulence as voting results in the major swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania can take days to determine.
Regardless of a Trump or Biden victory, the three election-proof stocks below are worth considering in the current environment:
1. Moderna : COVID-19 Vaccine Frontrunner
Biotechnology company Moderna (NASDAQ 🙂 has easily seen its stocks outperform the broader market this year, up more than 250% in 2020 as it emerged as one of the frontrunners in getting a COVID-19 vaccine approved and made public.
Its vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, is currently undergoing late-stage clinical trials in the United States, while the biotech company continues to evolve towards possible emergency approvals for its experimental vaccine by the end of this year.
The stock – which rose a whopping 385% once this year – closed at $ 69.08 on Tuesday, giving the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company a valuation of approximately $ 27 billion.
When Moderna reported third-quarter earnings on Oct. 29, the company said it plans to release data from the final phase of the clinical trial in the second half of November. It then expects to request emergency permission quickly, assuming the data is positive.
"I believe that if we launch our Covid-19 vaccine, 2021 could be the most significant inflection year in Moderna history," Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in the release.
Regardless of who is in the White House, the rollout of a nationwide coronavirus vaccination program will continue to be at the forefront of continued efforts to stem the spread of the pandemic.
2. Microsoft: Big Tech Dodging Regulatory Crosshairs
Microsoft (NASDAQ 🙂 is flying this year high, while the tech giant is booming in demand for its cloud-based offering given the widespread shift to working from home during the pandemic.
The Redmond, Washington-based software giant has seen its stock rise about 31% since the beginning of the year. The shares, which hit a record high of $ 232.86 on September 2, were settled at $ 206.43 yesterday. With a market cap of $ 1.56 trillion, Microsoft is currently the second most valuable company in the world.
Microsoft's fiscal first quarter financial results – released October 27 – are driven by strong performance in its thriving cloud computing business.
Revenues from Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud business, including Azure, GitHub, SQL Server, Windows Server, and other business services, grew 20% year-over-year to $ 13 billion in the three-month period ended September .
The company should continue to thrive in the current environment, regardless of election results, with the upcoming November 10 release of the next generation Xbox console expected to further increase revenues in the coming quarters.
The fact that Microsoft is currently not under pressure from antitrust regulators and politicians – unlike other major tech stocks like Apple (NASDAQ :), Amazon (NASDAQ :), Alphabet (NASDAQ 🙂 and Facebook (NASDAQ 🙂 – should also be good for.
Despite high valuations – the tech giant's stock trades for more than 30 times with 12-month gains – Microsoft still seems like a good bet in the future, given the high demand for its cloud-based services, making it one of the real leaders in its field.
3. Caterpillar: Beneficiary after the Election Stimulus
Caterpillar (NYSE :), the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, is widely regarded as the world economy.
It has seen its stock rise by about 14% this year, better than the comparable returns of both the and the. Even more impressively, the industrial machine builder's shares have nearly doubled from their low point in the bear market in mid-March, with a recovery of 91%.
CAT's stock ended at $ 167.69 last night, not far from its all-time high of $ 171.26 in mid-October. It has a market capitalization of approximately $ 91 billion.
Caterpillar reported results on Oct. 27, exceeding expectations for both revenues and revenues, despite the uncertain economic climate triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am proud of the accomplishments of our global team as we continue to safely navigate the pandemic while remaining committed to serving our customers," noted CEO Jim Umpleby in the company's press release.
Looking ahead, Caterpillar expects sales in the fourth quarter to be slightly higher than in the third quarter, given the modest economic recovery.
No matter who wins the presidential election, the Deerfield, Ill.-Based machinery giant is likely to be a major beneficiary of any post-election tax incentive bill aimed at supporting the economy amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
