4 Top Stocks to Tap the Growing Remote Working Environment

Looking at the current global scenario, it appears that the coronavirus pandemic has started a new era of work from home. And given the uncertainties and health scare that this life-threatening virus poses, it can be said that more people will be working from home in the foreseeable future.

Thanks to the advancement in cloud, artificial intelligence, rapid digitalization and internet security, millions of employees are remotely working for months now. In fact, scenarios like these have the ability to fast-forward a culture. The same is happening with the work-from-home culture.

Shift to Remote Working Culture

A study conducted on more than 25,000 U.S. adults in April by International Business Machines Corporation IBM indicated that remote working appears to be growing on employees. While, more than 75% pointed that they would like to continue to work remotely occasionally, nearly 54% indicate that they would like this to be their primary way of working.

There are several reasons behind this trend. Employees have shifted their job operations and adjusted working into their home-based routines, finding it more flexible and productive. Additionally, remote working helps employees save on housing since they have to rent places near their workspace to save cost of transportation or time. With remote working they not only save money but can also get rid of exhaustion from traveling to work.

Per a FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics analysis there has been a major upward trend in the number of people working remotely in the United States. In fact, over the last five years, the number has grown 44%. The study suggests that flexible schedules and remote-working options are the most effective nonmonetary ways to retain employees.

Coronavirus Pushes Rapid Tech-Transition

Technology has definitely reshaped socializing and shopping, but a few remote-working statistics surely point at how technology has also revolutionized workplaces. While millions are working from home at present, nearly 36% of them use some type of cloud-based management tool and 13% use collaboration software.

These cloud or artificial intelligence based tools help employees stay connected with the company and colleagues, and access all necessary information required for work.

Additionally, a study by security provider Barracuda Networks states that transition to remote working was already on the agenda of many organizations and 53% believe that the coronavirus pandemic made them accelerate their plans of moving all their data to a cloud-based model. Many organizations have also indicated that they have plans to continue transition into remote working even after the health scare is over.

A Work-From-Home ETF Coming Soon?

The coronavirus pandemic is fast creating a home office trend, leading to rapid growth in the work-from-home economy. In fact, apart from giants in cloud and security like Amazon.com and Alibaba, several technology firms have seen a significant uptick since the virus outbreak.

Given this scenario, many are trying to capitalize on the shift to virtual living. In April end, fund company Direxion announced that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a fund that would own companies likely to benefit from remote working. The fund would encompass cybersecurity, communications and cloud technology firms, named work-from-home ETF, with a ticker WFH.

This fits as a perfect example as the world economy is shifting toward thematic ETFs tied to new trends. A prime example to this is iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF (SUSL), holdings of which are primarily companies with positive Environmental, Social, and Governance rating.

4 Top Picks                                    

We have shortlisted four stocks that are poised to grow with the uptrend in remote working and also flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy).

Cloudera, Inc. CLDR provides a suite of data analytics and management products. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is more than 100% compared with the Zacks Internet - Software industry’s projected earnings growth of 35.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised more than 100% upward over the past 60 days.

Cloudera sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AudioEye, Inc. AEYE provides web accessibility solutions to Internet, print, broadcast, and other media regardless of network connection, device, location or disabilities. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 35.7% against the Zacks Internet - Software industry’s projected earnings decline of 14.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 35.4% upward over the past 60 days. AudioEye flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.

SharpSpring, Inc. SHSP operates as a cloud-based marketing technology company. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 26.1% against the Zacks Internet - Software industry’s projected earnings decline of 14.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 3.3% upward over the past 60 days. SharpSpring sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Okta, Inc. OKTA operates as a cloud-based marketing technology company. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 5.3% against the Zacks Internet - Software and Services industry’s projected earnings decline of 64.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 10.3% upward over the past 60 days. Okta holds a Zacks Rank #2.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>

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International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
SharpSpring Inc (SHSP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Okta Inc (OKTA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Cloudera Inc (CLDR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Audioeye Inc (AEYE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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