Zoom Video logs first billion-dollar quarter, but the stock is still falling

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted net income of $1.16 a share on revenue of $991 million.

“In Q2, we achieved our first billion-dollar revenue quarter while delivering strong profitability and cash flow,” Zoom Chief Executive Eric Yuan said in a statement announcing the results.

The better-than-expected top- and bottom-line quarterly results were undercut, however, by a tepid forecast for third-quarter earnings. Zoom gave guidance for between $1.07 and $1.08 a share of adjusted earnings, while analysts polled by FactSet anticipated $1.10 a share.

While most companies would be ecstatic with sales growth of 54%, that is actually the smallest year-over-year growth in revenue for Zoom in its recorded history, according to FactSet, which tracks its revenue growth back to April 2018, a year before the company’s initial public offering. The previous low was 77.9% in the quarter ended January 2020, just before the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic washed over the world.

Zoom’s forecast calls for growth to slow more. The top of its guidance range for the third quarter would reflect year-over-year sales growth of 31.2% from the same quarter in 2020.

The earnings and revenue win followed an ebullient note last week from Morgan Stanley analyst Meta Marshall, who raised her rating on Zoom to overweight, after being at equal weight since she started covering the stock in May 2019, a month after it went public. Marshall raised her price target to $400 from $360.

Read more: Zoom Video’s stock rallies after Morgan Stanley says stock has gotten too cheap to ignore

This came as welcome news for investors, who had seen the value of their shares plummet more than 40% since Zoom’s stock peaked at a closing price of $568.34 on Oct. 19, 2020, on a national wave of remote work. 

Zoom’s stock is up 3% so far in 2021. The broader S&P 500 index SPX, +0.43%  has gained 20.6% this year.