As half of the world’s population was in voluntary self-isolation, we’ve witnessed something that we thought is only possible in movies. Fortunately, we had Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Disney Plus (NYSE:DIS) to help us cope with the lockdown. But more importantly, we had social media that kept us connected during these unprecedented times of social distancing. And unlike the global economy, these companies were everything but on a virtual standstill.
With Amazon.com Inc’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO’s wealth increasing 30% during the pandemic, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) CEO and founder’s wealth increased 45% to 80 billion amid the pandemic. Although Jeff Bezos wealth is valued at $147.6 billion, both gains are massive. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK-A, BRK-B) Warren Buffett saw comparatively small gains of 8.2 percent and 0.8 percent. Well Buffet had the wrong bet on airlines whereas Zuckerberg introduced key new initiatives at a critical time. New program announcements such as Shops pushed Facebook’s businesses when the economy was at a virtual standstill. By launching Shops, Facebook helped many small businesses in need and this major new push into e-commerce is also helping economic recovery as we still don’t know the end of the pandemic. Etsy Inc’s (NASDAQ:ETSY) sales have doubled from three years ago and Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) which is among those of powering Shops not only became Canada’s most valuable company during the pandemic but it will only further thrive with this launch!
Facebook has taken a series of steps to ensure its user base remains intact. Although the company warned of “unprecedented uncertainty” for the future of its ad business, it witnessed a significant spike in the number of new users with nearly 3 billion people using at least one of Facebook’s apps which are mostly Instagram and WhatsApp. It comfortably surpassed estimated for its first-quarter revenues of $17.74 billion as they rose 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Facebook delivered.
Anyone who wants to keep up with the most recent news and tweet is active on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). The pandemic only made this need to participate in niche communities and engage in public fora even stronger. Moreover, Twitter bravely stood up for the interest of its users against President Trump after bending to his will over and over again. This move demonstrates that Twitter has learned a few things, although critics say three years too late. On Thursday, it set the model for proper “content moderation” on its platform after Donald Trump called for violence against American citizens. Twitter has covered the tweet with a warning. Furthermore, those who were determined to read it regardless could not “like” it or reply to it, thus slowing its expansion throughout the system and somewhat limiting the madness. Shares of Twitter have risen 1.7% on a year-to-date basis. On April 30, Twitter surpassed estimates by 10% when it reported first-quarter 2020 non-GAAP earnings of 11 cents per share with revenues growing 2.6% year over year to reach $807.6 million, which also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.5%. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 43.9%. The pandemic surely helped Twitter stay relevant.
Snap
Snap (NYSE:SNAP) which also enjoyed a surge in users saw its shares jump 5% last Thursday. The company’s famous app Snapchat gained as many as 11 million daily active users during first-quarter 2020, which is a 20% rise from 2019 thus taking the total user count to 229 million. The time spent on voice and video calls grew more than 50% in late March as compared to the month-ago period. The majority of the application’s users are Generation Z which includes individuals between 13 and 24 years of age. First-quarter revenues surged 44% from the year-ago quarter to $462.5 million, beating the consensus mark by 9.1%.
Don’t dismiss Pinterest Just Yet!
Although COVID-19 has been a mixed bag for social media stock with Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) stock falling 28% since the nightmare began in February, its potential remains intact. Pinterest is a unique medium. Unlike Amazon which gives its users what they want, Pinterest helps users discover new things in the range of their interests. This unique platform is about discovering and getting inspired so this remains a powerful appeal to advertisers.
Its ad load is still significantly below peers like Facebook and the company is still in the early stages of finding ways on monetizing the relationship between pinners and advertisers. And it has a lot of room to do so. Pinterest is growing aggressively into that opportunity with 51% revenue growth last year to $1.14 billion, while monthly active users (MAUs) grew 26% to 335 million. So, despite the setback in advertising spend, the important growth objective to expand and engage users which can be later monetized on was achieved during the crisis. And don’t forget that Pinterest is growing faster than both Facebook and Twitter.
Whether you are for or against social media, no one can deny it became an integral part of our lives. With Facebook gathering the most monthly active users, 2.6 billion, to YouTube’s 2 billion, Instagram’s 1 billion and Twitter’s 330 million, social media is here to stay, unlike COVID-19.
This article is not a press release and is contributed by Ivana Popovic who is a verified independent journalist for IAMNewswire. It should not be construed as investment advice at any time please read the full disclosure . Ivana Popovic does not hold any position in the mentioned companies. Press Releases – If you are looking for full Press release distribution contact: press@iamnewswire.com Contributors – IAM Newswire accepts pitches. If you’re interested in becoming an IAM journalist contact: contributors@iamnewswire.com Questions about this release can be send to ivana@iamnewswire.com