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Zoom raises full-year forecasts despite slowing growth

Zoom has raised its full-year revenue and profit forecasts, defying a slowdown in growth following the pandemic boom and facing tough economic conditions, according to Reuters. Despite an initial rally, the company's shares pared gains to a 0.7 percent increase after-market hours.

May 23, 2023 / 12:56 IST
The videoconferencing company now predicts full-year revenue between $4.465 billion and $4.485 billion.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. has raised its full-year revenue and profit forecasts, despite a slowdown in growth following the pandemic boom and a challenging economic environment, as per a Reuters report. Although shares of the company initially rallied nearly 5 percent before trading, they pared gains to a 0.7 percent increase after-market hours.

Zoom, which gained widespread recognition during the COVID-19 lockdowns, has faced cooling growth as offices reopen and faces stiff competition from well-established rivals like Microsoft Corp's Teams, Cisco's Webex, and Salesforce's Slack.

Also Read | Zoom focuses on products for business to boost growth

The San Jose-based company revised its annual revenue forecast to a range of $4.47 billion to $4.49 billion, reflecting a growth rate of approximately 2 percent compared to last year. This adjustment comes after its previous forecast of $4.44 billion to $4.46 billion.

For the quarter ending April 30, online revenue declined by 8 percent to $473.4 million. Zoom anticipates that it will reach nearly $480 million in the second quarter and remain relatively stable throughout fiscal 2024.

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Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC, told Reuters that the stock's gains were limited due to the implied guidance for enterprise growth, suggesting a deceleration to around 6 percent.

Also Read | Zoom gets pan-India telecom licence

However, the company's enterprise business saw a 13 percent increase in quarterly sales, amounting to $632 million. Zoom serves a wide range of customers, including individuals, small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as larger enterprise clients.

Zoom now expects its annual adjusted profit per share to fall within the range of $4.25 to $4.31, compared to the earlier estimate of $4.11 to $4.18.

While Zoom's first-quarter revenue surpassed Wall Street estimates, it recorded the slowest quarterly growth on record at 3 percent. On an adjusted basis, the company reported earnings of $1.16 per share for the first quarter, exceeding Refinitiv IBES estimates of 99 cents, the report noted.

(With wire inputs)

Moneycontrol News
first published: May 23, 2023 06:20 am

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