COVID-19 and renewable energy are some of the notable triggers of huge dividends for the holders of various equities in 2021. So far, Bitcoin has excited many investors with four all-time highs within three weeks and year-to-date returns of more than 200%. However, some stocks have beaten BTC despite its incredible gains.
As of December 22, 2021, markets’ data indicates that at least five companies’ stocks have provided investors with better rewards than a Bitcoin position since the start of this year.
Peloton Interactive Inc.
First on the list and winning against the explosive bitcoin is an unexpected success story known as Peloton Interactive. The company manufactures fitness equipment and its growth is attributed to lockdowns where people needed to exercise while still indoors instead of outside or the gym.
$PTON has delivered 384% annual returns so far. The company also offers some online fitness classes in a nod to the same market. Peloton remains quite tiny when compared to bitcoin in general, but, with a market capitalization of $42.4 billion.
Moderna Inc.
Another player significantly benefiting from COVID-19 is Moderna, a biotechnology heavyweight. That is one of the companies developing a COVID-19 vaccine. With its product already getting rolled out as of December 2021, Moderna has emerged as one of the main frontrunners when it comes to immunization in the US.
As expected, its stock has reacted massively with year-to-date gains of 619%, giving the firm a $54.7 billion market capitalization.
Zoom Video Communications Inc.
It is already a household name in 2021. Zoom has exploded to become a reliable medium of choice for the recreation of office environments online in 2021. Despite the controversies about hacks and susceptibility to downtime, Zoom’s software has enabled the company to gain a massive $116 billion market capitalization and annual stock returns of around 495%.
If a vaccine gives governments the confidence to resume physical office services, as usual, the demand for work-from-home conference software may drop significantly.
Enphase Energy Inc.
Enphase Energy is one of two entries that are not linked to the virus in any manner. It is a renewable energy management company that has made huge gains in 2021. The firm is still considerably small with a market capitalization of around $21 billion, but in a formative 12 months, its stock has already delivered returns of about 490% since the start of the year.
Just like the best-performing stock of 2021, clean energy forms a popular market segment that is only expected to expand in spite of the questions arising over how far renewables can go in replacing fossil fuels in the entire global economy.
This December, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak launched an energy savings business with its in-house token, WOZX.
Tesla Inc.
It was expected that Tesla would turn out to be by far the best-performing stock of this year. TSLA stock managed to shrug off all suggestions of a bubble repeatedly over many months of this 2021.
The numbers are major, Tesla has offered a market cap of nearly $620 billion, a staggering 850% year-to-date returns, and most recently an entry into the S&P 500. Compared to the 218% gains offered by Bitcoin, $TSLA seems like a unicorn never seen before; but priced in bitcoin, the stock appears decidedly less parabolic.
The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, in the meantime continues to flirt with bitcoin on social media. He sparked a wild speculation about a possible buy-in or stock conversion.
Zooming out, it is clear that bitcoin remains the best-performing asset of the decade. Even at the start of 2021 while bitcoin was trading at $7,200, its supremacy as an investment was still undisputed.
