Zoom Video Communications (ZM -0.60%) 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. Here at Zacks, we prioritize appraising the change in the projection of a company’s future earnings over anything else. That’s because we believe the present value of its future stream of earnings is what determines the fair value for its stock.
Continuing the two-year comparisons, that number is up from Q3 2020, when international revenue was only 20% of total revenue. If Zoom can continue to grow internationally, it opens up plenty of new revenue opportunities. Because of this, it is helpful to take a look at Zoom’s performance as compared to 2019. After all, year-over-year comparisons in 2021 are facing some awfully tough comparisons to 2020, when demand was at its peak. The chart below compares Zoom’s Q3 of 2022 (ending Oct. 31, 2021) to the corresponding quarter two years ago.
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To make the decision even easier, Zoom is trading at or near its low for price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-sales (P/S) ratios. Whereas during the pandemic the case could be made that the company’s valuation got ahead of itself, it’s clear now that the valuation is more in line with, if not underestimating, Zoom’s fundamentals. While the growth has slowed when compared to the pandemic highs, it’s clear that Zoom is still executing and growing — and worth considering heading into 2022.
Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Zoom Video Communications’ stock heiken ashi oscillator indicator for mt4 with indicator download was trading at $71.91 at the start of the year. Since then, ZM shares have decreased by 2.7% and is now trading at $69.94.
Should I Buy Zoom Video Communications Stock? ZM Pros and Cons Explained
The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. Zoom’s valuation has surely contracted, but it’s still not desirable when observing the company’s peer group.
Zoom is a member of the information technology sector and operates within the software industry. They include legacy web-based meeting service providers such as Cisco Systems Inc.’s (CSCO) WebEx and LogMeIn Inc.’s GoToMeeting. Rivals also include bundled productivity solution providers with video functionality such as Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL) Google G Suite and Microsoft Inc.’s (MSFT) Microsoft Teams. Other competitors are unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and legacy private bank exchange (PBX) providers such as 8×8 Inc. (EGHT), Avaya Holdings Corp. (AVYA), and RingCentral Inc. (RNG).
Zoom Stock: Buy, Sell, or Hold in 2022?
Today, Zoom is trading at 31.6 times earnings, whereas top competitors like Cisco (CSCO 0.10%), Microsoft (MSFT 0.83%), and Alphabet (GOOGL 0.59%) (GOOG 0.58%) are trading at price-to-earnings multiples of 20, 31, and 24, respectively. 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. The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters.
- Unlike some other firms, Zoom went into its IPO as a profitable company.
- Don’t let Zoom’s past success dictate your decision to invest in the company today.
- And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free.
- Zoom Video is graded B on this front, indicating that it is trading at a discount to its peers.
- Department of Justice-led panel, named Team Telecom, was investigating the proposed merger’s potential national security risks.
The U.S. government has been increasing its scrutiny of Zoom on several fronts. In https://forexanalytics.info/ 2020, the United States charged a China-based Zoom executive with conspiring to disrupt videoconference commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests. Zoom is also the focus of several ongoing federal investigations related to its dealings with Beijing, according to the Journal. Meetings on the platform can host as many as 1,000 participants, while webinars can scale up to as many as 50,000.
For a company like Zoom that has been so tied in investors’ minds to the pandemic, it can be difficult to take a step back and see the forest for the trees. Taken without the noise of the past two years, Zoom is clearly a buy for existing shareholders or those investors looking to start a position. By taking out of the equation the volatility of the past two years and viewing Zoom’s performance on this two-year basis, we see just how remarkable the growth of its business is. More importantly, the growth in larger customers — those with more than 10 employees and those spending more than $100,000 in revenue — provides a large base to upsell new features and hardware options as Zoom’s offerings expand. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool’s premium services.
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. With growth expected to hit the breaks in the years ahead, the company will likely become less attractive to investors who bought into Zoom’s growth story. On the earnings front, Wall Street analysts are forecasting an average annualized growth of 28% over the next five years up to an earnings per share of $6.21 per share in fiscal year 2026. This is more favorable than Zoom’s expected top-line scenario, but many investors still might be hesitant to pay a lofty valuation for the company when taking into account the deceleration in growth. NerdWallet, Inc. is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor.
Don’t let Zoom’s past success dictate your decision to invest in the company today. Top website in the world when it comes to all things investing.
EPS of $1.35 for the same period compares with $1.16 a year ago. If you’re still keen after doing some research, consider how Zoom stock would slot in among the rest of your portfolio. Specifically, look at how diversified your portfolio is and what this new investment would mean for your asset allocation. A general guideline for investors is to spread money across different companies, industries and geographies, thereby reducing risk and exposure to any one stock’s sudden movements. You’ll need to add money to the account and then search for “ZM” within the brokerage’s platform. Each of these initiatives are designed to expand the business beyond the simple videoconferencing app the company became known for.
