Zoom Annual Revenue Forecast Lowered Amid Decline in Online Business, Rising Inflation

Zoom Video Communications on Monday lowered its annual revenue forecast, as the video-conferencing platform expects a hit from declining online business. The company's chief financial officer Kelly Steckelberg said during a post-earnings call that Zoom's online business would decline nearly 8 percent during the year.

After recording blistering growth during the pandemic, Zoom, which competes with WeChat Work, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, and Slack, is facing a slowdown as red-hot inflation is dampening the spending power of customers.

The easing of pandemic-related restrictions across the world is also weighing on its business as people started spending less time online.

Shares of the San Jose, California-based company, which fell nearly 56 percent this year, were down 5 percent in trading after the bell.

Zoom now expects annual revenue to be between $4.37 billion (roughly Rs. 35,696 crore) and $4.38 billion (roughly Rs. 35,777 crore), compared with an earlier outlook of $4.39 billion (roughly Rs. 35,850 crore) and $4.40 (roughly Rs. 35,932 crore) billion.

"Guidance suggests further weakness in both enterprise and online. It is tough to disaggregate how much of this is macro (especially given slowing down in hiring or layoffs in tech) and how much is competition," said RBC analyst Rishi Jaluria.

"The focus for Zoom remains on its ability to expand to become a larger platform," he added.

The company, however, raised its annual adjusted profit per share to between $3.91 (roughly Rs. 320) and $3.94 (roughly Rs. 322), compared with the $3.66 (roughly Rs. 299) to $3.69 (roughly Rs. 301) forecast earlier.

Revenue for the third quarter that ended on October 31 rose 5 percent to $1.1 billion (roughly Rs. 9,000 crore), on the back of a 20 percent increase from high-paying enterprise customers, the company said.

On an adjusted basis, the pandemic winner earned $1.07 (roughly Rs. 87) per share during the quarter, compared with estimates of 84 cents (roughly Rs. 69), according to Refinitiv data.

© Thomson Reuters 2022