Daniel Shvartsman

Investing.com: While major U.S. indexes are expected to end 2018 with more than 20% gain across the board, this marks the third straight strong year for U.S. markets performance, there were interesting trends below the surface. This year’s winners and losers will highlight the differences between how certain companies took advantage of 2020’s paradigm shift and others who embraced reality.

Nasdaq winners: Hope, Software Semiconductors and a Giant

This was the top Nasdaq 100 performer in 2021 Lucid Group(NASDAQ) – which grew nearly 30% in just one year. This company, which makes electric vehicles, is representative of many trends for 2021. They were made public by Churchill Capital Corp IV. Other electric vehicle-related companies are doing well. Retail enthusiasm also drives interest in speculative and more traditional companies. Investor enthusiasm is evident for companies like these. The company’s enterprise value has reached $59 billion and the pre-gross profits are at most pre-revenue. This enthusiasm was also evident in Rivian Automotive’s IPO, which took place late 2021.

Moderna (NASDAQ) was able to use a clearer business model and track record for success in 2021. As the first approved mRNA vaccination, the vaccine manufacturer quickly became an international brand. It is projected to reach 145% by the end of this year.

Fortinet (NASDAQ) Highlights the development of cybersecurity and software. The company ended 20144% higher after an impressive 39% growth last year. DatadogThe software-as-a-service company NASDAQ sells monitoring software. In addition, they have built on a Boffo 2020 which was 160% higher than last year and will gain an additional 82% in 2021. It is now 6th in this ranking.  Use Intuit (NASDAQ): This is an older company that makes software, but it continues to grow its revenues in small business lines. It is expected to close the year with 69%.

This value chain shows the majority of the Nasdaq 100’s remaining winners. NVIDIA (NASDAQ) was the highest-valued semiconductor company, thanks to 126% more revenue from the hype surrounding the dominance of its graphics processing units and the growing demand for computing power. Marvell Technology(NASDAQ:) Shares rose by 85% due to a pair acquisitions related to network solutions and continued growth. Applied Materials Inc(NASDAQ: KLA-Tencor CorporationBoth are semiconductor equipment manufacturers (NASDAQ:). This means that semiconductor companies seeking to resolve shortage problems ordered more equipment. AMAT closed up 83%, while KLAC was 10th with a 66% increase.

AlphabetAlphabet, which is the third largest U.S. company by market capital, was 9th in this ranking. With Google’s profits, a 45% increase in revenue is quite remarkable. Anti-trust concerns are not likely to slow this growth.

Nasdaq losers: 2020 winners hitting growth walls and China stocks, as well as self-inflicted damage

There are many names we can see on the losers’ side of the ledger that could have been winners a year back.

Begin with Peloton Interactive(NASDAQ:), The fitness equipment company that made a bestseller in a period of social distancing is now faced with people who want to get back into the gym. It’s unclear how many are still interested and haven’t signed up for a subscription or bought a Peloton bicycle. Over the last year, shares fell 76% and especially the latter half felt like an afterthought for the company.

Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ) suffered fewer obvious stumbles. The failed acquisition of Five9 was most likely the closest, but they still met all their guidance and displayed prodigious profitability. It didn’t matter that shares plunged 45%, the third largest drop in the past year. DocuSign(NASDAQ:) was in the middle of these companies as another pandemic necessity that is still trying to figure out what the next normal might be. DocuSign had to reduce its guidance like Peloton but is now getting more credit for its performance and valuation, falling only 31%.

It is time to round out the software companies that had difficult 2021s Splunk(NASDAQ): A 32% decrease, but in Splunk’s case it was more painful or self-inflicted as they transitioned into a cloud-based business model. Splunk also said good-by to its CEO. Although it may not have been able to match DataDog, this is a sign of increasing SaaS competition.

China businesses also suffered in 2021 due to a host of new regulations, capital inflows and worries about investors seeing returns in the current political context. Pinduoduo (NASDAQ:) suffered the most on the Nasdaq with a drop of 67% Baidu(NASDAQ:) fell 31% and ecommerce retailers also dropped. JD.com(NASDAQ:) Dropped “only 20%.”

Activision Blizzard(NASDAQ) suffered from a number of issues in 2021. Some were self-inflicted, such as delays in publishing new titles and allegations of sexual misconduct against senior executives. Management also failed to respond to the claims. 28% drop in shares for the gamemaker over the past year.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ) is also included in the 2020 Winners category. This was because the Latin American E-Commerce retailer lost 20%. PayPal (NASDAQ:) could also fall in this category, with a 20% drop after more than doubled in 2020. However, incumbents have been under pressure from a variety of fintech startups, so PayPal might be old enough that it can qualify.

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