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Cloud Business Booming on Coronavirus Crisis: 5 Solid Buys

Microsoft Corporation MSFT and SAS jointly announced on Jun 15 a strategic partnership making Azure the preferred cloud platform for SAS's analytics portfolio. The two companies will enable customers to easily run their SAS workloads in the cloud, expanding their business solutions and unlocking critical value from their digital transformation initiatives.

Could business is fast becoming the focus of many tech giants as the service has been gaining popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people working and learning from home. This has seen the world becoming cloud-dependent and companies shifting data and information to technological and digital platforms to safely remain afloat.

Microsoft, SAS Come Together

As part of the partnership, the companies will migrate SAS’ analytical products and industry solutions onto Microsoft Azure as the preferred cloud provider for the SAS Cloud. The partnership builds on SAS integrations across Microsoft cloud solutions for Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and Power Platform and supports the companies’ shared vision to further democratize AI and analytics.

Microsoft has been increasingly shifting focus toward its cloud business. Last month, Microsoft said that it will create its first datacenter in Italy under a $1.5 billion investment. Prior to that, the tech giant had said that it would pump in $1 billion in Poland to create a datacenter and expand its cloud services there.

Demand for Cloud Services Skyrocket

Microsoft isn’t the only tech giant expanding its cloud business. Recently, Alibaba Group Holdings Limited BABA on Jun 9 said that plans to recruit around 5,000 staff globally in a bid to strengthen its cloud unit. The Chinese cloud computing giant in April said that it would invest additional $28 billion over the next three years to build next-generation datacenters.

In April, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN opened a datacenter region in Italy. A number of companies are expecting their cloud usage to exceed plans due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the ninth-annual Flexera 2020 State of the Cloud Report, 59% of the companies expect their cloud usage to be slightly or significantly higher than planned.

Our Choices

Tech companies have been aggressively expanding their cloud services, given that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over with many still staying at home. Given the situation, we have shortlisted four tech companies that are sure to benefit from soaring demand for cloud services.

ChannelAdvisor Corporation ECOM offers cloud-based, e-commerce solutions and services. It solutions include marketplaces, comparison shopping, paid search, social campaigns, flex feeds, web stores and rich media.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 72.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 40.8% over the past 60 days. ChannelAdvisorsports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc.’s ZM cloud-native unified communications platform, which combines video, audio, phone, screen sharing and chat functionalities, makes remote-working and collaboration easy.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 181% over the past 60 days. Zoom sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Box, Inc. BOX is a provider of a cloud content management platform. The platform enables internal and external collaboration on content, automation of content-driven business processes, development of custom applications, data protection, security and compliance features.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 32.4% over the past 60 days. Box carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Atlassian Corporation Plc TEAM is a global leader and innovator in the enterprise collaboration and workflow software space. The company offers a suite of cloud-based software solutions, which help organizations, collaborate and manage their workforce, such that the teams work better together.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 26.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.8% over the past 60 days. Atlassian Corporation holds a Zacks Rank #2.

Avalara, Inc. AVLR is a provider of cloud-based tax compliance solutions. It offers businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with transaction taxes including sales and use, VAT, excise, communications and other tax types.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 58.3%. Its shares have gained 10.1% over the past 30 days. Avalara carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Box, Inc. (BOX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Atlassian Corporation PLC (TEAM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ChannelAdvisor Corporation (ECOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Avalara, Inc. (AVLR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (ZM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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