In a dismal year for most companies, a minority have shone: pharmaceutical groups boosted by their hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine; technology giants buoyed by the trend for working from home; and retailers offering lockdown necessities online. Public companies had the tailwind of a surprisingly robust stock market — which many believe is a bubble. To rank companies that prospered in the pandemic, we have chosen to look at equity value added. Later in the series, we will look at an alternative gauge of success, as well as the big corporate losers and four thematic winners: pharma, cloud computing, ecommerce and gaming.
