Pandemic darlings face the boot as investors eye return to normal life

Stay-at-home market darling Netflix slumped on Friday, joining a broad decline in the market value of other pandemic favourites this week as investors priced in expectations for a return to normalcy as more countries gradually relax Covid-19 restrictions.
 
The selloff which began after Netflix and Peloton posted disappointing quarterly earnings spread to the wider stay-at-home sector as analysts judged the new Omicron coronavirus variant will not deliver the same economic headwinds seen in the first phase of the pandemic in 2020.

Peloton shares lost nearly a quarter of its value overnight wiping off nearly $2.5 billion in market value after the exercise bike maker's chief executive officer (CEO) said it was reviewing the size of its workforce and ‘resetting’ production levels, though it denied the company was temporarily halting production.
 
France will ease work-from-home (WSH) rules from early February and allow nightclubs to reopen two weeks later. People should get back to the office to benefit from in-person collaboration, Britain's business minister said on Friday.

 
Meanwhile Netflix shares  were 21.90 down in early trade on Friday. They were trading at $396.38 apiece at 10 pm IST.
 
Home delivery

Both companies were part of a group, along with others such as Zoom and Docusign whose shares soared in 2020, and in some cases 2021 as well, as people around the world were forced to stay at home. But, thanks to vaccine roll outs and the spread of the less severe Omicron, life is returning to normalcy in many countries, leaving companies like Netflix and Peloton struggling to sustain high sales figures.