Have You Finished Your Christmas Shopping?

Roll out the coronation carpet and sound the trumpets — there’s new royalty in town. Cyber Monday has taken the crown for the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States. In fact, this year, it’s taken the crown for the biggest U.S. online shopping day ever.

According to data from Adobe Analytics, American consumers spent a record $10.8 billion on Cyber Monday. That’s up 15% over the $9.4 billions spent online last year.

Retailers still had sales last Friday, both online and in store ... but there just wasn’t the reaction they are used to.

As malls opened, there were lines outside of stores such as Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), but ghost towns everywhere else.

These two brands have ratings of “B-” and “B”, respectively. Both have managed to stay relevant and even thrive during this uncertain year. Both athleisure and Apple products make staying at home more comfortable.

But even for name brands, once consumers are familiar with the products and sizing, it’s easy to just order online.

Analysts estimate that we could see online shopping hit $184 billion for the entire holiday shopping season. That’s about 30% higher than last year.

This is just more evidence that ecommerce is here to stay.

So, who will profit the most from this trend?

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) of course will keep raking in the profits. This “B-” rated company has seen share prices increase 74% since the beginning of the year. Plus, many have declared it the clear winner of the shopping weekend.

For every $5 spent Thursday through Sunday, $1 was spent on Amazon. Amazon customers worldwide ordered hundreds of millions of items between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, with Cyber Monday being the single biggest shopping day in the company’s history.

Other winners will be Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) Both have allowed for individual sellers to continue their business throughout the rolling shutdown and access more buyers all over the world.

Shares of Etsy have seen gains of 244% this year, and the company has have recently been upgraded to a “B” rating.

Shares of eBay have seen gains of 41% since the beginning of the year. Its “B-” rating is the first “buy” signal  eBay has held since 2015.

These are great options for individuals and maybe even some smaller businesses. But in reality, the circumstances of the year made it clear that every single business is going to need an online shopping presence if it’s going to succeed in the digital future.

That’s the big driver of the 171% gains that Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) has seen this year. The company has a Weiss Rating of “C” and has never actually held a buy rating in the past five years. This is because the company has always struggled with operating cash flow and inconsistent income.

But it’s making moves. Just last month Shopify jumped from a “D+” to a solid “C”. The most recent increased in earnings per share, net income and total capital are looking optimistic that Shopify might finally have a solid balance sheet after all.

In fact, my colleague Jon Markman recommended Shopify to his Weiss Technology Portfolio subscribers not too long ago. They’re already looking at double-digit open gains for the position.

Last but not least is a newbie to the e-commerce field that you might want to keep an eye on. Most people have heard of Shopify, but you might not have heard of BigCommerce (NASDAQ: BIGC). The company only started publicly trading back in August and currently holds a “D” rating.

Just like Shopify, the company operates as a software-as-a-service platform to simplify the creation of branded ecommerce stores. It focuses more on unique customization instead of being the out of the box approach.

Its rating indicates it might be too soon to get into BIGC. But it’s got promise.

E-commerce is a trend that can’t be ignored ... and I’ll be following it closely through the end of the year. Plus, I’ll be keeping an eye on how the ratings change on these related stocks. You should, too.

Best,

Kelly Green

About the Research Analyst

Kelly completed the Series 7 and 66 securities licenses, and has worked in the financial publishing industry for eight years, specializing in income and options. She contributes regularly to the Weiss Ratings Daily Briefing.

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