While the economy crumbles, these companies made "super-profits"

USA Today Reports: As coronavirus ruined the US economy, these companies reaped 'dramatic profits,' study says

While Americans struggle in the face of economic collapse, some companies are making massive profits according to a new study by Oxfam.

The study found that 17 of the top 25 most profitable U.S. corporations are expected to make $85 billion more in 2020. These companies include Microsoft, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Visa. This was all during the economic turmoil caused by COVID-19.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep inequalities and massive failures in our economic system, leaving tens of millions of people in the United States without jobs, devastating public services, and bankrupting countless small businesses," said Irit Tamir, director of the private sector department at Oxfam America. "Yet at the same time, thanks to a combination of government assistance and pure luck, a handful of corporations are raking it in and making already rich shareholders even richer."

The organization's analysis showed that overall, these 25 companies have, on average, 11% higher net profits in the first 6 months of 2020 compared to their typical net profits.

The study noted the firms that have done extraordinarily well commercially amid the pandemic have tended to make or provide essential goods and services such as Internet communications, key medicines and diverse consumer products.  

The market capitalization of Moderna, a U.S. pharmaceutical firm viewed as a strong contender to produce a COVID-19 vaccine, has more than tripled since February to almost $32 billion, according to a manual calculation using its share price. 

Meanwhile, small U.S. companies have reported that their earnings have been cut in half during the first quarter if 2020. Experts expect these firms to lose 85% in profits in the second quarter.