The coronavirus pandemic is crushing the United States yet again. Wall Street witnessed a slump yesterday, as an uncomfortable number of increases in cases were reported in the United States and Europe. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 650 points (or 2.3%) lower, posting the worst day since early September. The country witnessed its two worst-ever days of infection over the last weekend…
There have been clear signs of a new wave of the pandemic in the United States, which is believed to worsen as the weather gets colder. As of October 24th, there was a weekly average of 23 infections per 100,000 residents, surpassing the 20.5 peaks in mid-July during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic’s domestic toll.
Consequently, the stay-at-home stocks have been receiving attention and the coronavirus is functioning like a tailwind for companies like Zoom Video Communications (ZM), DocuSign (DOCU), Peloton Interactive (PTON), and Roku, Inc. (ROKU).
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (ZM)
ZM engages in the provision of video-first communications platforms. It connects people through frictionless video, voice, chat, and content sharing, and enables face-to-face video experiences in a single meeting across disparate devices and locations. With remote working becoming a necessity, ZM has gained huge market share within a short period because of its efficient platform that helps people meet remotely.
ZM’s popularity led to very inventive hacking earlier this year, causing thefts of private data from user devices. However, the quick developments within the company are enabling enterprises to safely engage with their employees and customers. ZM has recently announced new end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for users globally, free and paid, for meetings with up to 200 participants. The company has also partnered with Lumen Technologies Inc. (LUMN) to offer ZM’s product as part of LUMN’s Unified Communications and Collaboration Suite to their large and growing base of customers across the globe.
The demand for ZM’s products has increased exponentially since the onset of the pandemic. At the end of the fiscal second quarter ended July 2020, ZM had approximately 370,200 paid customers. This implied a 458% increase compared to the year-ago quarter. Total revenue of $663.5 million was up 355% year-over-year as ZM added nearly 988 customers contributing more than $100,000 to its trailing 12 months revenue.
EPS for the last reported quarter came in at $0.63, improving 3050% year-over-year. ZM has an impressive earnings surprise history with the company beating consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. The company strives to deliver a world-class, frictionless, and secure communication experience for its customers across locations. Hence, analysts expect current year EPS to rise 611.4% compared to the year-ago value.
The stock closed yesterday’s trading session at $517.79 with a year-to-date gain of 661%. It has recently hit its 52-week high of $588.84 and is presently trading 12.1% below the high. The stock is up more than 280% in the past six months.
How does ZM stack up for the POWR Ratings?
A for Trade Grade
B for Buy & Hold Grade
A for Peer Grade
B for Overall POWR Rating.
It is ranked #5 out of 54 stocks in the Technology – Services industry.
DocuSign, Inc. (DOCU)
DOCU specializes in developing and marketing e-signature technology and solutions that enable businesses to digitally prepare, execute, and act on agreements. It provides cloud-based transaction products and services in the United States and internationally. DOCU’s platform has 350+ pre-built integrations with popular business apps. It has more than 500,000 customers and hundreds of millions of active users in over 180 countries.
Amid increasing demand for solutions that enable remote completion of agreements, DOCU has recently released DocuSign Analyzer, the AI-powered contract analytics solution designed for incoming agreements.
Moreover, DOCU acquired an Austin-based start-up, Liveoak Technologies in July 2020. In May, it also completed the acquisition of Seal Software, one of the leading contract analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technology providers. Both of these acquisitions marked a step toward bringing the benefits of AI to the digital transformation of the agreement process.
Total revenue for the fiscal second quarter…
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