On Monday, Zoom Video Communications Inc reduced its annual revenue forecast as the video-conferencing platform saw business drop off when the pandemic passed and businesses transitioned back to working from the office and schools returned to in-person classes.
Kelly Steckelberg, Zoom’s chief financial officer predicted the company’s online revenue would decline by roughly 8% during the year, on a post-earnings call with investors and analysts.
Zoom, which saw business explode during the pandemic, dominated its competition with such companies as WeChat Work, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx and Slack, as they all sought to offer video conferencing services. However now, as pandemic concerns fade away, and inflation is sapping the pocketbooks of consumers, business is slumping.
The San Jose, California firm, which saw shares decline 56% this year, dropped 5% in trading after the bell.
The company now expects annual revenue to come in between $4.37 billion and $4.38 billion, vs. an earlier forecast of $4.39 billion to $4.40 billion.
RBC analyst Rishi Jaluria noted, “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.” He added, “The focus for Zoom remains on its ability to expand to become a larger platform.”
Profits per share increased, however, from the forecasted $3.66 to $3.69, to $3.91 to $3.94.
Third quarter revenue rose 5% to $1.1 billion, due to high-paying enterprise customers, according to the company.
The company earned an adjusted $1.07 per share over the quarter, compared to a Refinitiv estimate of just 84 cents.