3 Stay-At-Home Stocks That Are Still Going Strong

Let’s face it. We live in a different world than we did just a year ago. Life is more complicated. And yet, in some ways it’s not complicated at all. The absence of some routine choices has simplified our lives in some ways. Just not necessarily in ways that we like.

One thing is certain. If we hadn’t embraced technology before today, we do now. We are learning that there truly is an app for just about anything we can want to do. And as an investor that creates opportunities, if we know where to look.

I’m looking beyond e-commerce stocks (which are really a category by themselves) and identifying three stay-at-home stocks that are going strong now and look to have a long runway.

The first stock to look at is Zoom Communications (NASDAQ:ZM). I know there are many people who have a bit of “Zoom fatigue” right about now. But that just makes it all the more a good investment. Zoom is well-positioned for the trends of remote work and remote learning.

Zoom is continuing to expand its product portfolio. In the last quarter for which the company reported earnings, they introduced Zoom Hardware as a Service. This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. And it facilitates the ease at which clients can use Zoom services. The company also introduced Zoom for Home which is new category that combines the company’s software experience and hardware device partnerships for remote work.

And by pretty much any meaningful financial metric, Zoom is knocking it out of the park. More of the company’s revenue is coming through monthly billings. This is leading to eye-popping numbers. Zoom’s operating cash flow came in at $401 million (compared to $31 million in the same quarter in 2019). And the company’s free cash flow was $373 million (compared to $17 million in the prior quarter).

It’s fair to say the company may not experience the same kind of growth over the next year, but Zoom certainly appears that it will be able to maintain profitability much faster than analysts had expected.

Another technology stock that is continuing to prosper is Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC). The stock is up over 145% for the year, which is actually down a little from where it was just a couple of months ago. To me, the key statistic for Teladoc is simply this. The company estimates it has a potential addressable market of 1.1 billion people. This means it is currently only servicing about 1% of its audience. And that’s despite the fact that the company recorded a 203% year-over-year increase in virtual visits in the last quarter.

But that’s not the only reason to consider Teladoc stock. Here are a couple of others reasons. First, it just announced last month that it was merging with Livongo Health (NASDAQ:LVGO) the medical device maker and another large name in the digital health space.

And if you’re still on the fence about Teladoc, here’s something that may help. There is some speculation that Teladoc stock may split after the merger with Livongo is complete.

The last stay-at-home stock to buy now is Clorox (NYSE:CLX). If you’ve read my past articles, I like to pick stocks for many different investors. Clorox would certainly not fall in the growth stock category. However, the stock has had quite a run in 2020, climbing nearly 45% as of this writing.

To say Clorox can’t keep the product on the shelves is the understatement of an understatement. The company projects a shortage of its wipes and other products well into 2021. Clorox president Linda Rendle, who is scheduled to become chief executive officer of the company, said that the upcoming flu season will add to the company’s difficulty in getting supply levels back to normal.

In the company’s most recent earnings report, it had a 22% gain in sales largely attributed to the pantry stuffing at the onset of the pandemic.

And while Clorox’s growth will return to normal along with its supply chain, the company is providing a good dividend for value-minded investors. The company currently issues a $4.44 annual dividend that is paid quarterly. The dividend yield is around a modest 2%. However, the company has increased the dividend in each of the last 13 years including a five-cent per share increase in May.

I have little doubt that we will return to normal activities when we can. We’re social beings after all. We’re built for that. But in the meantime, society is learning to live with the virus. And as an investor, your job isn’t to fight the trends, but lean into them. These are three stocks that can help you do just that.