Zoom is available free of charge to anyone and the basic free version offers all the facilities most people will need. The Zoom app is available on all major desktop and mobile operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It’s used primarily by businesses to host meetings with remote colleagues and clients, but Zoom is an equally useful tool for keeping in touch with friends and family. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Luke Meindl has no position in any of the companies mentioned.The Motley Fool owns and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Zoom Video Communications. For the full year, Zoom expects its revenue to increase 51% and for its adjusted EPS to rise 42%-43%.
And yet the business performed solidly throughout the past few years even as the stock fell. Zoom’s revenue rose 54% year over year to $1.02 billion during the second quarter and beat estimates by nearly $30 million. Its adjusted net income increased 51% to $415 million, or $1.36 per share, which cleared expectations by $0.20. Should investors buy Zoom’s dip, or should they avoid it as more people physically return to work and school? Let’s examine Zoom’s growth rates, future plans, and valuations to find out.
Financial health
Zoom video conferencing is celebrated for its ease of use, high quality video and audio, and collaboration facilities – 10 best dividend stocks for 2021 and the basic version is also completely free of charge. However, Zoom has rapidly turned into a value stock that returns a respectable level of free-cash-flow growth. If Zoom can start monetizing some of the AI potential Ark Invest sees, it could inspire another bull market in its stock. Ark Invest has backed estimates up by taking a significant position in the media stock. Zoom makes up almost 7% of its flagship fund, the Ark Innovation ETF, making the Cathie Wood investment its fourth-largest holding.
Growth and Profitability
Across all Ark Invest funds, Zoom makes up around 4.5% of the company’s holdings. As Wood and others have stated, Zoom is much more than an online meeting platform. It is a comprehensive communications ecosystem that includes team chat platforms, online whiteboards, VoIP phone service, workspaces, email, and other services.
While the word Zoom is used by some as a byword for video conference, there are many Zoom alternatives on the market capable of rivalling the big name brand. The most basic paid version costs $149.90/£119.90/AU$209.90 per year when billed annually or $14.99/£11.99/AU$20.99 per month, which is a little more expensive in the long-run. Video conferencing platform Zoom has become a household name after enjoying a breakout year, in large part due to the pandemic and rise of remote working. Zoom Video Communications (ZM -0.85%) rewarded shareholders who bought the stock prior to the pandemic, returning 391% in 2020. The company was a clear beneficiary of the work-from-home environment, a trend that is still very evident today. Bureau of Labor statistics released in January, 11% of workers were still teleworking as of December 2021.
- The pullback in pandemic-driven demand, in addition to increased competition from massive tech companies like Microsoft and Alphabet, will challenge Zoom’s business moving from here on out.
- However, the stock is still pricey and will remain volatile — so it isn’t an ideal investment for queasy investors.
- The U.S. government has been increasing its scrutiny of Zoom on several fronts.
- Zoom ended the second quarter with 2,278 customers contributing more than $100,000 in revenue over the past 12 months, which represented 131% growth from a year ago.
Its platform helps people to connect through voice, chat, content sharing, and face-to-face video experiences. The company was founded by Eric S. Yuan in 2011 and is headquartered in San Jose, CA. Its forward What is lot in trading price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is just under 14, and the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of less than 5 is just above all-time lows. That valuation positions the stock for a massive surge if the company can stoke a recovery in revenue growth.
Attendees can join a Zoom meeting without even signing into the app, but must register for an account to host a video meeting. Premium versions support Zoom meetings with up to 1,000 participants, call recording, unlimited phone calls and much more. Zoom’s valuation has surely contracted, but it’s still not desirable when observing the company’s peer group. Given the expected slowdown in Zoom’s growth, I think it’s safe to say that the company is still trading at expensive valuation multiples. Zoom even initiated new growth efforts, building out an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven communications ecosystem. Then there is the endorsement of Ark Investment Management’s CEO Cathie Wood, whose bold predictions regarding other tech stocks (like Tesla and Bitcoin) have come to pass.
Leo Sun owns shares of Cisco Systems and Zoom Video Communications. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Five9, Microsoft, and Zoom Video Communications. Those strategies could help Zoom shake off its reputation as a one-trick pony and support its long-term evolution into a cloud-based communications giant. As of Aug. 23, 2021, Zoom had 240,744,533 outstanding shares of Class A common stock and 56,383,369 outstanding shares of Class B common stock. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and has additional offices in more than 15 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Should You Buy Zoom Stock Today?
With revenue and earnings growth expected to pull back in the years ahead, I wouldn’t be surprised to see growth-oriented investors exit their positions in Zoom stock. The slowdown in growth, combined with ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical concerns, will put additional downward pressure on Zoom’s valuation for the 9 best investments in 2021 foreseeable future. Zoom Video Communications, Inc. engages in the provision of video-first communications platform. The firm offers meetings, chat, rooms and workspaces, phone systems, video webinars, marketplace, and developer platform products. It serves the education, finance, government, and healthcare industries.
A history of conservative guidance
Zoom’s margins should either remain stable or expand in a post-pandemic market, since many of its new users during the pandemic stayed on free plans instead of upgrading to paid tiers. Zoom’s growth will inevitably decelerate in a post-pandemic world, but investors should still note how often it “sandbags” its guidance. During that period, its net income of $339 million surged 63% higher.
Founded in 1993, The Motley Fool is a financial services company dedicated to making the world smarter, happier, and richer. The Motley Fool reaches millions of people every month through our premium investing solutions, free guidance and market analysis on Fool.com, top-rated podcasts, and non-profit The Motley Fool Foundation. Zoom shares have lost over 60% of their value in the past six months as part of a broader tech sell-off in response to rising interest rates and inflation.
Revenue and earnings growth remain strong — analysts are forecasting revenue and earnings per share to grow by 54% and 46% year over year up to $4.1 billion and $4.87 per share in fiscal year 2022, respectively. Zoom has almost no debt, boasting a debt-to-equity ratio of 2% and a strong cash position of $1.3 billion. The company also grew free cash flow by over 1,100% in fiscal year 2021 up to $1.4 billion.
As a long-term investor, I don’t ignore past performance, but I’m generally more interested in where the company is heading. Zoom has provided investors with spectacular growth and returns in the past couple of years; however, I don’t see that continuing into the future. The pullback in pandemic-driven demand, in addition to increased competition from massive tech companies like Microsoft and Alphabet, will challenge Zoom’s business moving from here on out.
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