Amazon’s stock hit a new all-time high during the Coronavirus pandemic

Amazon’s stock hit a new all-time high Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic catapults the company into an unprecedented spotlight. The company announced that it will hire 75,000 workers to keep up with exploding demand triggered by the nationwide pandemic shutdown. The new hires will add to 100,000 employees joining the payroll in the past four weeks as the company takes additional market share from brick-and-mortarstorefronts and stressed-out supermarket chains.

The stock was trading around $2,274 Tuesday afternoon, up more than 4% from its previous close. Amazon last reached an all-time high in February, when it closed at $2,170.22 per share. Amazon’s market cap is now more than $1.1 trillion.

The Covid-19 crisis and stay-at-home orders put in place to combat the virus have put Amazon in a unique position to deliver goods to people around the world who can’t or won’t go shopping in physical stores. Amazon has said it would hire 175,000 more warehouse and delivery workers to keep up with the growing demand.

nce life returns to some sense of normalcy, Amazon could end up retaining customers whose loyalty it gained during the crisis. The circumstances have put many Americans in a position to rely on Amazon and other delivery services to meet their needs. Experts believe it will take months after the initial phase of the crisis for people to feel comfortable returning to large gathering places like grocery stores and shopping malls.