Zoom shares jump on better-than-expected fourth-quarter results

Zoom shares climbed 8% in extended trading on Monday after the video chat company reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that exceeded analysts’ estimates and offered optimistic earnings guidance for the year.

Here’s how the company did:

• Earnings: $1.22 per share, adjusted, vs. 81 cents as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $1.12 billion, vs. $1.10 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Zoom’s revenue increased 4% year over year in the quarter, which ended on Jan. 31, according to a statement. That’s a dramatic slowdown from the quadrupling of revenue that Zoom enjoyed in 2020 and 2021, when consumers and businesses flocked to the video service during the Covid pandemic.

The company had its first net loss since 2018 in the quarter, losing $104 million compared with net income of about $491 million in the year-ago period. The loss stems from stock-based compensation costs.

Zoom continued to face issues it had encountered earlier in the 2023 fiscal year during the quarter, including executives looking carefully before agreeing to pay the company for services, CEO Eric Yuan told analysts on a conference call.

Some organizations have decreased the number of seats for which they buy Zoom’s software as part of broader expense pullbacks, Kelly Steckelberg, the company’s finance chief, said on the conference call.

Growth will continue to slow this year. Zoom sees between $4.435 billion to $4.455 billion in revenue, implying 1.1% growth, while analysts were expecting sales of $4.6 billion. The company said adjusted earnings per share will be between $4.11 and $4.18, topping the $3.66 average estimate.

For the fiscal first quarter, adjusted earnings will be 96 cents to 98 cents per share on revenue of $1.080 billion to $1.085 billion. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected 84 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $1.11 billion in revenue.

Excluding the after-hours move, Zoom’s stock is up 8% for the year, while the S&P 500 has gained 3% over the same period.

During the fiscal fourth quarter, Zoom said it would introduce email and calendar services, along with a virtual agent chatbot for handling customer service inquiries.

Earlier this month Zoom announced that it will cut 1,300 employees, representing 15% of its workforce. “As part of our restructuring, we are optimizing our go-to-market strategy to better support our enterprise customers and drive additional productivity,” Steckelberg said.

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