A Stock Trader’s Guide to Black Friday in the Covid-19 Era

  • E-commerce stocks to get online shopping boost amid lockdowns
  • Companies selling toys, home furnishings seen flourishing
A shopper walks through the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards mall in New York.Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg
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Pandemic-driven lockdowns, shuttered malls and stuck-at-home consumers have hurt retailers in 2020 as Covid-19 ravaged the economy. With Black Friday almost underway, equity traders are bracing for a holiday season where brick-and-mortar businesses that lack strong digital platforms could suffer.

For the first time ever, more consumers intend to shop online than in stores, a Deloitte survey shows. U.S. online holiday sales will total $189 billion, shattering all previous records with a 33% boost from last year, according to Adobe Analytics. That’s equal to two years’ growth in one season.