Zoom beats expectations and lifts full-year guidance on enterprise business strength

Zoom shares rose as much as 8% in extended trading on Monday after the video-calling software provider announced fiscal second-quarter results that exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Here’s how the company did:

• Earnings: $1.34 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.05 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $1.14 billion, vs. $1.12 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Zoom’s revenue grew 3.6% year over year in the quarter that ended on July 31, according to a statement. Net income jumped to $182 million, or 59 cents per share, in the quarter, compared with $45.7 million, or 15 cents per share per share, in the fiscal second quarter one year ago.

Still, the company is moving at a much more sluggish pace than it was two years ago, when it said revenue multiplied almost by five after the arrival of Covid pushed companies and schools to sign up for premium accounts and keep their people collaborating remotely.

The company claimed around 218,100 enterprise customers at the end of July, up 1% from 215,900 as of April 30. Zoom defines enterprise clients as business units that Zoom’s direct sales teams, resellers or partners work with.

Zoom’s quarterly guidance came up just short. Executives called for $1.07 to $1.09 in adjusted earnings per share on $1.115 billion to $1.120 billion in revenue in the fiscal third quarter. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected $1.03 in adjusted earnings per share and $1.13 billion in revenue.

Management raised Zoom’s full-year forecast. Executives now see $4.63 to $4.67 in adjusted earnings per share and $4.485 billion to $4.495 billion in revenue for the full 2024 fiscal year. The revenue range implies 2% growth at the middle of the range. Three months ago Zoom said it was looking for $4.25 to $4.31 in adjusted earnings per share and $4.465 billion to $4.485 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had predicted that Zoom would produce $4.30 in adjusted earnings per share and $4.49 billion in revenue.

“Our increased total revenue guidance reflects a consistent view on enterprise, with tempered expectations for online for the remainder of the year,” Kelly Steckelberg, Zoom’s finance chief, said on a conference call with analysts.

Sales cycles remain longer than usual, she said.

Clients are “really making sure that they take advantage of doing their full due diligence,” she said.

Meanwhile, Zoom is still working to optimize its spending, including on cloud services, and it’s been slowing the growth of sales and marketing expenses as well.

During the quarter Zoom said that through free trials, certain customers could start requesting call summaries that they can share without recording conversations, and the company said it invested in artificial-intelligence startup Anthropic.

Eric Yuan, Zoom’s founder and CEO, said that unlike some of its competitors, the company won’t be charging a “crazy price” for artificial-intelligence features on top of existing software. “I do not think that’s fair to customers,” he said. It would be better to add AI capabilities into existing software services, he said.

Zoom’s contact center software for customer service is small but growing fast, with over 500 customers now, Steckelberg said.

The expansion follows Zoom’s failed effort to acquire Five9. The price of the contact center software is “highly disruptive,” Steckelberg said.

Notwithstanding the after-hours move, Zoom stock has declined about 1% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index has risen 15% over the same period.

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