NexOptic Technology Corp (TSXV: NXO)
You’ll Never See The World The Same Way Again
Healthcare data analytics provider Health Catalyst (HCAT +4.4%) is up, albeit on below-average volume, on the heels of its announcement of three COVID-19 solutions for its U.S. clients. The company says it will provide the related technology at no incremental cost for the remainder of this year.
Patient & Staff Tracker: a tailored module of the Patient Flow Analytics Accelerator that provides the ability to track the movements of COVID-19-positive patients within the healthcare setting and which staff members have interacted with these patients (helps testing, quarantine and decontamination efforts).
Public Health Surveillance: a tailored module of the Patient Safety Monitor Application Suite that identifies unusual patterns of symptoms and clinical tests that may represent illness, enabling earlier intervention.
Staff Augmentation Support: enhanced customer support services by company team members in response to increased demands on health system clients due to COVID-19. The company will offer the services at a discounted rate for the remainder of 2020.
Amazon.com (AMZN +3.7%) is suspending non-essential shipments to its warehouses, Business Insider reports.
It points to a memo sent to sellers saying that shipments other than medical supplies and household staples are being put off to April 5, in order to manage workload.
“As COVID-19 has spread, we’ve recently seen an increase in people shopping online,” according to the memo Seeking Alpha has seen. “So in the short term, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other important products coming into Amazon fulfillment centers so we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers.”
The coronavirus is threatening project schedules in the U.S. solar industry (TAN +6.6%), the Solar Energy Industries Association says, following a year in which the sector topped natural gas as the country’s top new power source.
Fallout has hurt both supply chains and demand in the fast-growing industry, and SEIA president Abigail Ross Hopper says the trade group’s annual market report’s projection of 47% growth in 2020 will be ratcheted down in the coming weeks and months.
In addition to disruptions to supplies of components such as panels and inverters, solar firms also face labor shortages as Americans are asked to limit social contacts to reduce the spread of the virus or are forced to stay home due to school closures, Hopper said.
In the rooftop solar market, homeowners may be putting large investments on hold, she adds.
The industry has 10 GW of utility-scale projects currently under construction, the report says, after the U.S. solar industry installed 13.3 GW of capacity last year.
Relevant tickers include FSLR, SPWR
Credit Suisse sees a potentially good harbinger for Netflix (NFLX -2.7%) international demand, as the company’s downloads are spiking in regions hit hard by the coronavirus.
Netflix has seen sharp growth in Hong Kong and South Korea, indicating “first-time app downloads inflected positively starting in January and continued into March.” That’s not likely driven by content releases, analyst Douglas Mitchelson writes.
Lack of fresh content will become an issue over time, of course, as companies suspend production; but that may be a bigger issue for Netflix’s competition, he says.
And SensorTower data that Bloomberg points to show 57% jumps in first-time downloads in Italy this week, and a 34% jump in Spain.
Facebook (FB +1.5%) is giving $1,000 in cash to all 45,000 employees, in a move to blunt the effects of the virus outbreak, The Information reports.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed the payments in an internal company notice, part of a move to support remote workers, according to the report.
Employees will also earn at least their full bonuses for their six-month review.
