U.S. Indices remain in a good position to finish 2020 at record highs, even given the drop seen by many over the past few sessions. Movement on Congressional stimulus and vaccine fronts is fueling positive sentiment.
The benchmark climbed nearly 14% for the year, while the tech-heavy was up nearly 43% over the same time frame, which would be the best annual performance for the index since 2009.
With Wall Street closing the curtains on a blockbuster year, the following three growth stocks have led the price higher in terms of year-to-date performance.
Not surprisingly, all three names are set for an explosive 2021 thanks to accelerated sales growth amid strong demand for their products and services.
1. CrowdStrike
Opening price January 2, 2020: $ 49.87
Closing price, December 22, 2020: $ 224.90
Profits 2020 YTD: + 350.9%
Shares of Crowdstrike (NASDAQ 🙂 are up well this year, up about 351% in 2020, as it has benefited from strong demand from companies to make their IT networks more secure as more people move from home to work.
The cloud-based cybersecurity specialist – whose technology is used to detect and prevent security breaches – currently counts nearly half of Fortune 100 companies as customers.
CRWD stock – which started the year at $ 49.87 – closed last night at a new all-time high of $ 224.90, valuing the Sunnyvale, California-based cybersecurity company at approximately $ 45.2 billion.
CrowdStrike reported an earnings report in early December, showing sales up 85.8% year-over-year.
The cybersecurity company said it added 1,186 net new subscription customers in the quarter. It now has a total of 8,416 customers, 85% more than in the same period a year earlier.
The cybersecurity leader is on track to become one of the main beneficiaries of increased corporate cybersecurity spending following the fallout from the massive hack}} that originated with network management software vendor SolarWinds earlier this month (NYSE :).
We expect the positive trend in CrowdStrike's stock to continue in 2021 due to its status as one of the leading names in the cybersecurity industry.
2. {{0 | Chewy
Opening price January 2, 2020: $ 29.00
Closing price, December 22, 2020: $ 106.69
Profits 2020 YTD: + 267.9%
Chewy (NYSE :), widely regarded as the leading online retailer of branded and private label pet foods and grooming products in the US, was a big winner in 2020 with a staggering 267.9% share this year.
The online pet products retailer, which launched its IPO in June 2019, has benefited as the home delivery model reduces public health concerns of consumers purchasing their pets from brick-and-mortar retailers.
The CHWY stock, which started the year at $ 29.00, rose to a record high of $ 109.52 on Tuesday before the session ended at $ 106.69, e-commerce company based in Dania Beach, Florida. valuation of $ 44.4 billion.
Chewy's earnings reports surpassed revenue expectations for each quarter this year, signaling strength even during the ongoing health crisis.
The online pet products retailer, whose site and mobile apps display a wide variety of pet foods for different animals and allow customers to order products for delivery, reported results on Dec. 8 that yielded a 45% increase in sales.
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Highlighting the growing demand for its services, Chewy added 1.2 million new customers in the third quarter alone. It now has 17.8 million active users, about 40% more than the same period a year ago.
Chewy will likely see a boost to its already stellar financial performance over the next year, given the anticipated spike in US pet spending and the relentless focus on execution and inventiveness that allowed it to thrive in the competitive market with competition from Amazon.com (NASDAQ :).
3. Roku
Opening price January 2, 2020: $ 133.90
Closing price, December 22, 2020: $ 354.71
Profits 2020 YTD: + 164.9%
Roku (NASDAQ 🙂 was one of the top performers this year, with a market share of nearly 165% in 2020, thanks to rapid user expansion, which translated into higher ad revenue for the streaming media platform provider.
While that is impressive in itself, it is even more amazing that the stock also made an annual profit of 375% in 2019.
The ROKU stock, which started the year at $ 133.90, climbed to a new high of $ 361.50 yesterday before closing at $ 354.71. At its current level, the San Jose, California-based streaming video pioneer has a market cap of approximately $ 43.5 billion.
Roku reported surprises for all four periods of the year, shattering earnings and revenue expectations thanks to the strong growth of its ad-supported video-on-demand services.
The streaming video platform reported an unexpected gain when it released its third quarter results on Nov. 5, along with better-than-expected revenues, which were up 73% from the same period a year earlier.
Roku & # 39; s active accounts were up 43% year-on-year from the third quarter to 46 million. Those accounts spent a remarkable 14.8 billion hours, or 3.5 hours per user per day, streaming through Roku & # 39; s hub, up 54% from the same period a year ago.
Further supporting the optimism around the company was that average revenue per user came in with a double-digit percentage gain in Q3, increasing 20% ??year-over-year to $ 27.
Despite the massive gains made over the past 24 months, we expect ROKU shares to rise in the new year as the current business environment has created a perfect backdrop for the streaming media platform to flourish.
