Zoom shares soar 34% after revenue more than quadruples from last year

Zoom Video Communications shares rose as much as 31% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings Monday that were better than analysts had expected and raised its full-year guidance significantly.

Here’s how the company did: 

• Earnings: 92 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 45 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $663.5 million, vs. $500.5 million as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue grew 355% on an annualized basis in the fiscal second quarter, which ended on July 31, according to a statement. In the prior quarter Zoom’s revenue grew 169%. New customers’ subscriptions delivered 81% of the revenue growth, and there was less customer churn than expected, finance chief Kelly Steckelberg told analysts on a Zoom call.

Zoom’s income neared $186 million, up from just $5.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Zoom increased its adjusted gross margin to 72.3% from 69.4% one quarter earlier partly because of expanding the capacity of its own data center equipment.

People became more dependent on Zoom’s video-calling software for business, educational and personal use during the quarter, after the coronavirus pandemic led officials to direct people to stay home around the world, meaning that people could no longer meet in person as before. The company hired information security and diversity leaders, added Lt. Gen. Herbert Raymond “H.R.” McMaster to its board, announced plans for research and development centers in Phoenix and Pittsburgh, and said it acquired secure messaging start-up Keybase.

Zoom averaged 148.4 million monthly active users in the quarter, up 4,700% year over year, RBC analysts led by Alex Zukin wrote in a note distributed to clients on Aug. 17, citing data from app analytics start-up SensorTower. The analysts have the equivalent of a buy rating on Zoom stock.

Excluding the after-hours move, Zoom shares are up 369% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P 500 index is up about 9%. During Monday’s trading session Zoom stock increased almost 9%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 ended the day lower.

With respect to guidance, Zoom sees fiscal third-quarter earnings of 73 cents to 74 cents per share on an adjusted basis and $685 million to $690 million in revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had been expecting adjusted earnings of 35 cents per share on $492.9 million in revenue.

Zoom raised its guidance for the full 2021 fiscal year. It called for $2.40 to $2.47 in adjusted earnings per share and $2.37 billion to $2.39 billion in revenue, implying 282% annualized revenue growth at the middle of the range. Consensus among analysts polled by Refinitiv was $1.30 in adjusted earnings per share and $1.81 billion in revenue. The highest estimates were $1.60 in adjusted earnings per share and $1.86 billion in revenue. Zoom’s prior full-year guidance was $1.21 to $1.29 in adjusted earnings per share on $1.78 billion to $1.80 billion in revenue.

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