Zoom's Pandemic Growth Stops

Today is Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

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Zoom's Pandemic Growth Stops

Shares of Zoom (Nasdaq: ZM) dropped 1.96% in after-hours trading on Monday after the technology company posted mixed earnings.

Financials: Zoom reported earnings per share of $1.29 and revenue of $1.07 billion; both were better than expected.

The Good: The company said it will repurchase up to $1 billion in stock.

Bad Outlook: The problem with Zoom was its guidance. The company expects to have revenue in the first quarter to be between $1.070 billion and $1.075 billion, and revenue for the full year to be between $4.530 billion and $4.550 billion. Wall Street expected Zoom to have higher projections.

Big Picture: Zoom was the darling of Wall Street during the pandemic. The number of users grew rapidly in 2020. But now that the pandemic is ending, Zoom is having trouble maintaining the same user growth. The stock is down 67% in the past 12 months.

Final Thoughts: The good news is that as hybrid work becomes more acceptable, Zoom’s enterprise business could grow.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), Target (NYSE: TGT), SoFi Technologies (Nasdaq: SOFI), Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SEA), AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG), Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ), Builders FirstSource (NYSE: BLDR), Wish (), Workhorse Group (Nasdaq: WKHS), Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS), Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), Bionano Genomics (Nasdaq: BNGO), UWM Holdings (NYSE: UWMC), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), Celsius Holdings (Nasdaq: CELH), Village Farms International (Nasdaq: VFF), GrowGeneration (Nasdaq: GRWG), ADT (NYSE: ADT), Amarin (Nasdaq: AMRN), Avid Technology (Nasdaq: AVID), Big 5 Sporting Goods (Nasdaq: BGFV), Builders FirstSource (NYSE: BLDR), Chico's Fas (NYSE: CHS), eHealth (Nasdaq: EHTH), First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), Horizon Therapeutics (Nasdaq: HZNP), Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL), Hostess Brands (Nasdaq: TWNK), International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT), iQIYI (Nasdaq: IQ), J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM), Jazz Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: JAZZ), Manchester United (NYSE: MANU), Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Nasdaq: MLCO), PLBY Group (Nasdaq: PLBY), Renewable Energy Group (Nasdaq: REGI), Ross Stores (Nasdaq: ROST), Sarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRPT), Scientific Games (Nasdaq: SGMS), Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN), Vector Group (NYSE: VGR), Wendy's (Nasdaq: WEN), WW International (Nasdaq: WW), Valens Company (Nasdaq: VLNS).

Notable IPOs Today: Priority Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE: PRIF), Valuence Merger Corp. I Unit (Nasdaq: VMCAU).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Ounce Water (StartEngine), The HoneyBee Collective (MainVest), Northstar Technologies Group (NetCapital).

Notable Economic Events Today: Manufacturing PMI (9:45 a.m. ET), ISM Manufacturing PMI (10:00 a.m. ET), API Weekly Crude Oil Stock (4:30 p.m. ET).

Behind Cryptocurrency’s End of February Rise

After a lackluster start to the year, most cryptocurrencies experienced a surge in the price on Monday, the last day of February.

Numbers: On Monday, Bitcoin went up 14%, Ethererum went up 11%, XRP went up 7%, Solana went up 12%, and Dogecoin went up 7%.

Background: Inflation and geopolitical tensions have decimated crypto prices at the start of 2022. Most coins are still down for the year. Monday’s uptick likely happened as a result of the new sanctions against Russia.

Final Thoughts: With the U.S. Federal Reserve likely to raise interest rates this month, keep an eye on crypto prices.

After Bad Launch, What’s Going On With Astra?

Aerospace company Astra (Nasdaq: ASTR) has been in turmoil after failing to complete orbit during a mission in February.

Next Steps: Astra said last week that it is in the process of investigating the failed mission, including a look at the data used during the attempted orbit.

Numbers: Shares of Astra are down 77% in the past 12 months.

Final Thoughts: Following the bad launch last month, analysts downgraded Astra’s stock.

Trends to Watch

Refusal: Crypto exchanges choose ‘financial freedom’ and refuse to block Russian users (Fortune)

Good Move: Target to spend $300 million more in next year improving wages and healthcare (Reuters)

No Driving: GM stops exporting cars to Russia (CNN)

Piece of Junk: U.S. Junk Bonds Hold Steady Through Ukraine Invasion (The Wall Street Journal)

Below Expectations: Lucid Stock Sinks As Tesla Rival Slashes 2022 Production Outlook (Investor’s Business Daily)

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