picking a coronavirus success stock

While the wider market has been plunged into almost historical volatility as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the subsequent lockdown measures around the world and the added bonus of an oil price crash, some companies have seen the recent turmoil as a boon to their share prices.

If investors had decided to ring in the new year by parking their cash in any of the company’s below, they are likely to have made a tidy profit off of the coronavirus crisis, netting them something of a pandemic payday.

Biotechnology

While it may perhaps seem obvious, the pandemic has seen a surge in the value of multiple biotechnology firms, particularly those that have projects related to either battling the symptoms of coronavirus or working towards a vaccine.

It is, in fact, a biotech that since has seen the largest share price increase across the entire London market since January 2. In late March, () was provided emergency authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to deploy its test for coronavirus, just when the outbreak was accelerating in several western countries.

Since then, the firm has secured a slew of manufacturing agreements as well as other deal relating to testing for the virus, while since the start of the year its shares have rocketed over 1,700% to around 258p at Thursday’s close.

Other groups in the sector that have seen their share prices surge on the back of pandemic demand include (), which is currently testing whether its SNG001 treatment, designed to help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are also suffering cold or flu infections, can be repurposed to help coronavirus sufferers. Its shares have risen nearly 650% since the start of the year.

Another big biotech riser is Avacta PLC (), which so far this year has surged around 616% as its Affimer technology is incorporated into rapid tests for coronavirus.

Gold diggers

With the pandemic playing havoc with equities, one beneficiary of the coronavirus fallout has been the traditional haven asset of gold, which has seen its price steadily climb over the last six months before hitting an eight-year high of around US$1,770 an ounce earlier this month.

The surge also shows little signs of receding, with some experts [LINK] predicting the price could reach as high as US$3,000.

The scramble for the yellow metal has provided a boost to the world’s gold miners, as after having struggled in recent years to secure funding for exploration now find themselves facing a market willing to provide almost unlimited funding in pursuit of a secure investment.

AIM 100 gold explorer (), which has a portfolio of gold projects in Western Australia, has seen its share price climb around 556% since the start of January.

Other small caps…