Zoom Video Communications projected sales and profit for the current quarter that topped Wall Street’s estimates, a sign that the software vendor is finding ways to sustain growth beyond the pandemic boom. Shares jumped 15% in extended trading.
Revenue will be as much as US$1.12-billion in the period ending in July, the San Jose, California-based company said Monday in a statement. Analysts, on average, estimated $1.11-billion, or growth of about 9% from a year earlier. Profit, excluding some items, will be as much as $0.92/share compared to analysts’ average estimate of $0.84. For the full year, Zoom raised its earnings forecast to as much as $3.77/share from its February projection of $3.51.
The company’s new products are “enhancing the customer experience and promoting hybrid work”, CEO Eric Yuan said in the statement. “We believe these innovative solutions will further expand our market opportunity for future growth and expansion with customers.”
Zoom hasn’t maintained the breakneck triple-digit growth it experienced during the pandemic as offices reopen and competition increases from Microsoft’s rival video communications platform. Fiscal first quarter sales increased 12% to $1.07-billion, Zoom’s slowest year-over-year growth on record. While the company’s shares have plummeted 51% this year as part of a broad decline among software makers, some analysts think the selloff has gone too far.
Benchmark Co’s Matthew Harrigan said in a note before the results that investors have overlooked Zoom’s potential as a key tool for hybrid workplaces as major industries embrace remote work. The company is focusing on its enterprise offerings by expanding products for customer service contact centres and analytics. Zoom recently announced the acquisition of Solvvy, a conversational AI start-up, and unveiled Zoom IQ, a call analytics tool for sales departments.
New metrics
Emphasising this shift away from the consumer business, Zoom has started reporting new metrics for enterprise customers. In the period ended 30 April, the company said it had 198 900 enterprise customers, an increase of 24% from a year earlier, with a net dollar expansion rate of 123%.
“I think the market wants to see signs that Zoom isn’t just a Covid stock,” said Tejas Dessai, a research analyst at Global X, which counts Zoom as a top holding of its cloud-focused exchange traded fund. “We would like to see increased consumption from larger enterprises, especially those with more than $100 000 in annual spending on the platform,” Dessai said in an interview before the results were released. — Brody Ford, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP
