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Once in a while, the world experiences a period of financial crisis that greatly harms the world's economy, and as a result, the stock market bursts. However, in such a period, there are exceptional companies that become immune to the crisis and manage to grow while the rest stall. If you don't know what the stock market is, I invite you to read "The stock market. A complete explanation for beginners." In this article, we will discuss the crisis that arose in the year 2020 and that started with a tiny particle called coronavirus. During this time, there were companies that would have allowed you to accumulate wealth as if by magic, and what is more interesting, to even reach a million dollars with a low investment. Below, I will show you the ranking of the most profitable companies during this period and I will explain why they had a colossal growth. This analysis will help us face a future crisis and make gains while the world is shaking. We start with the 6th position in the ranking.

6. Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix

In the stock market, making money is easy if you play it safe, and the safest thing to do will be to bet on the most powerful companies, that is, companies with the largest market capitalization. They lead the world market, and therefore, if the world is in a crisis, these companies will be the first ones to rise again. But that's not all. In a time of crisis, it is always important to pay attention to the details. By the end of February 2020, the World Health Organization had declared that COVID-19 was a global pandemic. Because of this, governments closed their borders, and world markets burst, fearing a possible recession. Details about the crisis are given in the article, "How to exchange currencies during a global crisis." As you may remember, during this period, governments imposed a quarantine, i.e., it was forbidden to leave home, and it is here that you, as an investor, would have asked yourself the following question: "What companies would benefit from a quarantine?" You already know that the most powerful companies will be the first ones to rise again, but there are many powerful companies, so out of all of them, which ones will recover first? With simple reasoning, you could easily conclude that if quarantine is imposed, then people will seek to entertain themselves at home, and the most practical way to do it is by considering the internet and TV, that is, companies related to this type of entertainment should be the first ones to recover, and who is the biggest player in this sector? Netflix! That's why it reached a record high during the COVID crisis. But that's not all; if it is forbidden to leave the house, then how would you buy stuff that you usually buy in a mall? The answer is quite obvious: use e-commerce services, and the giant in this sector is Amazon. That's why it reached a record high. The global demand for Amazon grew dramatically, to the point that Amazon had to hire more people. Finally, we are aware that humans are social beings, and they cannot survive without being in contact with their friends. If they are at home, then eventually they will choose a social network to interact and the biggest player that we know is Facebook. In the following image, I show you the fluctuation of Netflix, Amazon, and Facebook in the stock market for the period February–May 2020.

As shown in Table I, in the given period, the undisputed winner was Facebook, which grew +76% from its lowest point on March 18^th, 2020. That is if you would have invested 1,000 USD on March 18^th, 2020, then on May 26^th you would already have 760 USD in profit. And what is better, no matter when you bought the shares, in May you would still have profits because it reached an all-time record... and it is likely that in the coming months, it will hit new highs because if it became a profitable company in a period of crisis, what can we expect in a period of bonanza?

5. Zoom Video Communications

In position number 5 we have a company, whose service you have likely used. In the previous case, we paid attention to what an individual does when is in isolation, for instance, he or she would look for entertainment and social interaction, but besides that, an individual who stays at home also needs to work or study, but how could this be done without leaving the house? The answer relies on the videoconference. This service exploded worldwide because universities, institutes, colleges, companies, and organizations were forced to use it. Some of them opted for Skype or Teams, which belongs to Microsoft, and others chose Whatsapp, Messenger, or Workplace, which belongs to Facebook, but this crisis showed us that the more focused a company is on something, the more attractive it becomes, and that's why, although Teams, for example, had a lot of users, Microsoft did not grow dramatically on the stock market. In contrast, Zoom Video Communications, being a company dedicated 100% to the field of videoconference, captured worldwide attention. In the following image, you can see its dramatic growth in the stock market from the end of 2019 to May 2020:

From Fig. 2 we obtain the following table:

As shown in Table II, Zoom's growth was much higher than that of the giants mentioned in position number 6. Moreover, as you may notice, while the giants fell in late February 2020 and began to recover in mid-March, Zoom was totally immune to this fall and continued to grow as if the world were in a period of bonanza. If you would have invested USD 1,000 on December 9^th, 2019, on April 24^th, 2020 you would already have USD 2,920 in your pockets...

4. Companies focused on the sale of N95 masks and safety equipment

When a phenomenon arises, it is critical to reflect on it in order to deduce its consequences and, as a result, evaluate which sector will profit the most from it. When the virus first appeared in China, few people thought that it would spread around the world. Interestingly, if you would have been one of these few, you would have amassed a fortune. Why? Because you would have thought that when the virus spreads around the world, the first thing people will want to buy is protective masks. As a result, you would have made investments in companies relevant to that. In your analysis, if the virus is contained and never leaves China, nothing negative would happen with your investment, i.e., the risk of loss is low, but the chance to make a fortune is high. Certainly, this reasoning was correct and it is something that we must keep in mind. In the following table, I give you a list of the companies that skyrocketed in the stock market for the sale of N95 masks and safety equipment.

As shown in Table III, Alpha Pro Tech was the undisputed winner in this sector, turning your 1,000 USD investment into 12,996.9 USD in just three months. Among the companies listed in Table III, Shandong Dawn Polymer has a particular history. It was created when SARS erupted as a pandemic in 2002-2003 and continued under the assumption that similar viruses will resurface from time to time. The company's owner was not mistaken and perhaps because of this, we may wind up buying Shandong Dawn Polymer shares during the next coronavirus outbreak because we already know they have vast expertise with this.

3. Companies focused on the development of vaccines against COVID-19

Usually when a negative event happens in the world, a portion of the populace believes that it is the result of a conspiracy. In the case of COVID-19, it was common to hear people claim that the virus was manufactured by the government in order to enrich itself. But how exactly? Offering the vaccination for big quantities of money, that is, this nefarious government manufactures a virus that sickens everyone and then sells the vaccine to make a profit. Interestingly, if you were an investor, this conspiracy theory would work in your favor because all you would need to do to make a fortune is to buy shares of the pharmaceutical company where this nefarious government has invested. And this is possible because we're talking about a public company that keeps the record of investors available to the public. On the other hand, there is another portion of the populace that believes that the virus is manufactured by a group of pharmaceutical companies, but the vaccine does not exist because in such a way these pharmaceuticals can receive financial support (and thus amass a fortune) to develop one. Curiously, here too, this theory could play in your favor because you would only need to invest in pharmaceuticals that are receiving a lot of financial support. Consequently, complaining is pointless. If you believe that everything is done for the benefit of pharmaceutical companies, then you already have your answer: Invest in them! Because the likelihood of being wealthy overnight is high.

Below I give you a list of the most profitable pharmaceutical companies that focused on the development of COVID-19 vaccines:

As shown in Table IV, for the given period, Novavax was the undisputed winner, turning your 1,000 USD investment into 17,370 USD. Keep in mind that Table IV shows only the top-performing companies in this sector. Other companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, and Glaxosmithkine, were omitted since their stock prices did not fluctuate significantly.

2. Zoom Technologies

As you may recall, we discussed Zoom Video Communications in the fifth position; is Zoom Technologies similar? No, no, no! Zoom Technologies is in the second position by accident. To understand why, first let's look at the graph below:

From Fig. 3 we get the following table:

As shown in Table V, Zoom Technologies grew 5890% in 3 months, then crashed from 59.9 USD to values ​​below 1.0 USD. The reason for this is that many investors throughout the world chose to buy Zoom Technologies shares after learning about a software called Zoom that was becoming widely used. For these investors, if the software was called Zoom, then it was obvious that the company creating it was Zoom Technologies. Once these investors realized that they had made a very serious mistake, they sold their shares causing Zoom Technologies' value to plummet in just four days, see Fig. 3. This psychological phenomenon is common in the stock market and has occurred throughout history because every investor wants to be the first one buying something; as a result, some do not pay attention to details and act fast without thinking. For example, during the dotcom era (when the internet exploded around the world), many companies that had nothing to do with the internet saw their shares skyrocket simply because their names were very similar to internet companies, implying that many investors made very serious mistakes, but as I previously stated, this happens all the time and serves as a lesson for the future, e.g., if you had foreseen that some investors would make such a mistake, you would have purchased Zoom Technologies shares when they were barely worth 1.0 USD. With this, a 10,000 USD investment would have given you 590,000 USD.

1. Companies focused on COVID-19 detection tests

In a coronavirus crisis, you may think that pharmaceutical companies dedicated to vaccine development are the ones that should amass the biggest fortune due to government financial support; however, the success of these companies depends on whether they find the vaccine or not, that is, if they don't find it, they won't grow in the stock market. Therefore, a second thought would tell you that investing in companies focused on COVID-19 detection tests is a much better decision because they will grow no matter if a vaccine is found. This reasoning is correct and that's why these companies are ranked first as the most profitable ones during the COVID-19 crisis. Below I give you a list of the ones with the biggest moves in the stock market.

As shown in Table VI, Novacyt became the most profitable company during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you would have invested 10,000 USD in October 2019, by April 2020 you would have a million dollars in your pocket. In other words, in less than six months you would become a millionaire thanks to a global pandemic.

As you can see, the stock market is a fascinating place, and only experience will allow you to spot the holes that will make you a millionaire.