Pandemic Champion Zoom will be back!

14 Sep 2023

In this work, I will analyze Zoom Video Communications, Inc., a leading company in the cloud communication and collaboration sector, which offers online videoconferencing, chat, telephony, webinars, among other services, for different segments and audiences. My investment thesis is that Zoom is an innovative and profitable company that has the potential to remain a leading video-based unified communications platform well into the future. To support this thesis, I will evaluate the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the company. In the qualitative part, I will describe Zoom's business model and strategy, showing how it differs from its competitors, what are its strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and threats it faces in the global market. In the quantitative part, I will present Zoom's financial and operational data, demonstrating how it has grown in recent years, and what its projections are for the future, for a well-structured technical analysis based on Wyckoff, structures and volume delta.

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Company History

The company emerged in 2011, as a result of the vision of Eric Yuan, a former engineer at Cisco Systems, who recognized the need to create a simpler, reliable, and high-quality communication platform. The company launched its main product, Zoom Meeting, in 2013, and has since been growing rapidly in terms of customers, revenue, and profit. The company went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in April 2019, with an initial public offering (IPO) of $36 per share. In June 2019, the company became part of the Russell 2000 index, which comprises smaller-cap companies in the United States. In April 2020, the company was promoted to the Russell 1000 index, which includes larger-cap companies in the United States. In august 2020, the company surpassed a market value of $100 billion, becoming one of the most valuable technology companies in the world.


Company's Sector of Operation

The company operates in the software as a service (SaaS) sector, which is a business model that provides information technology solutions over the internet, without the need for customers to install or maintain hardware or software. The SaaS sector is a growing and competitive industry, benefiting from digitization, mobility, and cloud trends. Within the SaaS sector, the company excels in the cloud communication and collaboration (CCaaS) segment, which offers online services to facilitate remote work, distance education, and social interactions. The CCaaS segment is dynamic and innovative, adapting to technological changes and consumer demands. It is also a challenging and regulated segment, facing competition from major market players like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Cisco Webex, and Skype.


Diversification and Innovation Strategy

The company's strategy is to diversify and innovate its products and services to meet customer needs and differentiate itself from competitors. The company aims to become an open and flexible platform that integrates various cloud communication and collaboration solutions. Some examples of products and services that the company has launched or acquired in recent years include:

Zoom Phone: a cloud telephony system that allows users to make and receive calls using the same Zoom Meeting application.
Zoom Rooms: an integrated system that transforms any physical space into a virtual meeting room with video, audio, and screen sharing.
Zoom Webinar: an online service that enables users to host virtual events with up to 50,000 participants and 100 speakers.
Zoom Chat: an online service that allows users to exchange instant messages with other Zoom users or external contacts.
OnZoom: an online platform that allows users to create, host, and monetize interactive virtual events, such as classes, shows, workshops.
Kites: a startup specialized in real-time automatic translation for video conferences.


SWOT Analysis

It is an essential tool for evaluating a company to invest in, as it offers a broad and organized view of the company's current situation. It consists of identifying the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and threats that affect the company's performance. This is a qualitative analysis and does not replace technical or fundamental analysis.
The company's SWOT analysis is as follows:

Strong points:
Freemium model: Zoom offers a free basic plan that allows up to 100 participants and unlimited sessions of up to 40 minutes, attracting those looking for an affordable and quality solution for online communication. Ease of use: It is known for its simple and intuitive interface, which allows participants to start and join sessions with just a few clicks. The company also offers features such as virtual backgrounds and video retouching to enhance the look and feel of those involved during sessions. Global Usage: The platform has a global presence, with more than 300 million daily session participants and more than 213,000 enterprise customers worldwide. It also supports multiple languages and currencies, meeting the needs of diverse audiences. Financial strength: The company has experienced significant revenue and profit growth in recent years, driven by the high demand for online communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zoom's total revenue for fiscal 2023 was $4,393 billion, up 7% year-over-year. Business revenue was US$2.409 billion, an increase of 24% compared to the previous year. Brand name: The solution has become a household name and synonymous with online communication, thanks to its popularity and recognition among consumers. Zoom has also received several awards and recognition for its quality and innovation, such as the Webby Award for Best Mobile App in 2020.

Weak points:
Security issues: The company has faced many security and privacy issues in the past, such as “zoom bombing”, which is the unauthorized invasion of sessions by malicious people who interrupt or share inappropriate content. It has also been criticized for sharing consumer data with third parties without proper consent. They don't offer end-to-end encryption: Despite claiming to offer end-to-end encryption, the platform actually uses a type of encryption that allows the company to access session data if it wants to. This raises concerns about the confidentiality and integrity of participant communications. Zoom Rooms: Zoom rooms are a feature that allows stakeholders to create dedicated physical spaces for online communication using specialized Zoom or partner hardware. However, this feature is expensive and requires an additional monthly subscription, which may limit its adoption among customers.

Opportunities:
Growing demand: Demand for online communication is set to continue to grow in the future as more people embrace remote work and hybrid work models. The company can capitalize on this opportunity by expanding its customer base and offering customized solutions for different industries and needs. Up-selling: It can increase its revenue by encouraging basic plan consumers to upgrade to paid plans, which offer more features and benefits, such as longer sessions, more participants, recording and cloud storage, Zoom Phone and Zoom Rooms. Diversification: The platform can diversify its offer of products and services, exploring new markets and segments, such as health, education, entertainment, and e-commerce. The company can also develop new technologies and features, such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine translation, to improve the user experience and differentiate itself from the competition.

Threats:
Intense competition: The company faces strong competition from other players in the online communication market, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Cisco Webex, Skype, and Facebook Messenger. These competitors have greater financial, technological and marketing resources than it does and can offer integrated and competitive solutions to customers. Regulatory changes: The platform is subject to various laws and regulations in different countries and regions, which may affect its operations and revenues. For example, it may face restrictions or bans from operating in certain markets due to national security, data privacy or human rights concerns. The company may also face fines or penalties for violating these laws and regulations. Dependence on network infrastructure: The quality and performance of Zoom services depend on the availability and reliability of network infrastructure, such as bandwidth, internet speed and stability. Any interruption or degradation of these factors could negatively impact the user experience and the reputation of the solution.

Final qualitative analysis opinion
ZM benefits from its freemium model, ease of use, global usage, financial strength and brand name. But, it also faces challenges such as security issues, lack of end-to-end encryption, cost of Zoom rooms, intense competition, regulatory changes and dependence on network infrastructure. The company can take advantage of videoconferencing demand growth, up-selling and diversification opportunities to overcome its weaknesses and threats. The platform must invest in improving its security and privacy, innovating its products and services and expanding its presence in new markets and segments. Zoom has the potential to remain one of the leading video-based unified communications solutions in the future.

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Fundamental Analysis:

We will introduce fundamental analysis, focusing on the company's financial health and performance. For this, we will use financial data from the second quarter of the fiscal year 2024 (ended on July 31, 2023). The financial indicators we will consider are: EBITDA, CFO, ROE, ROIC, Gross Margin, and Operating Margin.


Description of fundamentals:

Source: Yahoo Finance

The company has good liquidity, as it has a high ratio of liquid assets in relation to liquid liabilities, which indicates a low default rate on its basic obligations and low default rates. Furthermore, the company has a large loss in relation to equity and this further reduces its potential market value.


[url=finance.yahoo.com/quote/ZM/key-statistics/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGHzTtW9-Ai2RlRqFOw9Sp_EaKW0cyvV_6SLeHM06288lQV1x77_rvD34E9FuCtMs66yMRHEjGO753xz0qQtwMDJDRtXGwFf1VKZppEIRerHXOKN-JEOn431ty9h-nHKQ8rufi-GDpheP9JV9xbtS3coIDqzKTxz5LnGyoYczToHSource: Yahoo Finance

The company has excellent financial health and strong performance. The company demonstrates high operating profit (EBITDA), good cash generation (CFO), good return on equity (ROE) and invested capital (ROIC), and good gross and operating margins. These results show that the company is efficient, profitable, sustainable, and competitive in the video conferencing and online collaboration market.


Other Fundamentals indicators

We will address other economic indicators that are not as necessary but can be incorporated into our fundamental analysis.

Source: Yahoo Finance

The data in this table shows that the company has a good financial performance, but also faces some problems. For one, Zoom Meeting has a high P/E Ratio, which indicates that investors expect future earnings growth from the company. Zoom Meeting also has a high Enterprise Value, which represents the company's total value in the market. These indicators suggest that Zoom Meeting is a successful and innovative company, offering a high-quality and in-demand communication service. On the other hand, Zoom Meeting has a low P/B Ratio and a low PSR, which indicate that the company is trading at a price well above its book value and sales. This could mean that Zoom Meeting is overvalued or faces strong competition in its industry. Furthermore, Zoom Meeting does not pay dividends to its shareholders, which may discourage some investors looking for a stable and secure income. These indicators propose that Zoom Meeting is a risky and volatile company that depends heavily on market expectations and industry trends.

Final opinion of fundamental analysis
It has significant potential for growth and generating value for shareholders, especially in a scenario of increased demand for digital solutions, but it needs to face the threats mentioned previously in the company's SWOT analysis..


Technical Analysis

To begin the study, first, we observe that the stock was launched in April 2019, and in January 2020, there was a significant increase, as we can see in the weekly chart. With this, we will divide this technical analysis into three parts. In this chart, we have the presence of three volume profiles. It calculates volume by price level based on the Gaussian curve and is excellent for measuring long-term position buildups, especially in a weekly chart like this.

Analysis of the first profile:

ZM Weekly Chart

Note that, since the IPO process, the stock appreciated by 671.09%, which is quite substantial. Many companies were negatively affected during the pandemic, but this one inadvertently benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this first profile, we see the largest position buildup right at the range of 68.75 to 76.95. You can already see 2 candles of aggression, as shown in the second graph, causing significant drops.


Analysis of the second profile:

ZM Weekly Chart

Observing the second profile, we see a lack of demand from buyers and a position buildup on the selling side, unlike what we observed at the beginning.

Analysis of the third profile:

ZM Daily Chart

Upon examining the last profile, we see that despite the market coming from a downtrend channel, we can observe a drastic increase in volume per price level, which is a characteristic of a position buildup. As we gradually see, the seller has been reducing their position, and furthermore, the stock is in a downtrend channel that if it surpasses 78.50, combining it with the fundamentals, we could potentially have an upward trend.


Macroeconomics and Technical Analysis

Surprisingly, Zoom is not the only one that experienced a drop that significantly devalued its stock. Several companies listed on the Nasdaq Composite, including the Nasdaq Composite itself, suffered from a drop that impacted the United States economy.


NQ1! Weekly

This was motivated by high inflation, which reached around 9%, which is indeed a very concerning figure for the US economy. By February, inflation had already reached 7.5%, which was already a very high percentage, as technology companies react poorly to inflation. This explains the poor performance of these stocks.

February table

Source: Tradingview Economic Calendar

These data explain the drop in assets listed on the Nasdaq, but surprisingly, Zoom was affected much more than the other companies. Later, when the price started to increase slightly;

And the year 2022 contributed even further to the devaluation of ZM shares. But as we can see, the asset was already in the process of falling long before:

ZM Daily Chart

There was the beginning of a bearish rally there.
Even if the current data are not so favorable, the deflation process that occurred in the United States, together with the artificial intelligence race, could also be a detail that will greatly help in the ZM valuation process.

September table updated

Source: Tradingview Economic Calendar
September's data clearly reveals a drop in inflation, but with several very significant drops, in addition to some negative points such as the reduction in job creation and economic development. Look at the table below:


Source: Tradingview Economic Calendar

Based on this table, Zoom Communications could have a positive result as the company recorded a drop in inflation in September, implying that the costs of products and services decreased. This can benefit consumers and businesses that use the Zoom Service.

Conclusion

Zoom Video Communications Inc. is a company with good financial and market performance, despite the broad devaluation it suffered in 2021/2022. It demonstrates good fundamental analysis with strong revenue and profit growth, a high net margin, low debt and a good market value.
The company also presents good technical analysis. It is undervalued, having been at an all-time low since its IPO, building a position for a likely long-term upward trend. Although the macroeconomy does not favor the variable income market due to a high interest rate of 5.5% (possible readjustment to 5.75% in September), it can also benefit from the ongoing economic deflation, which should stabilize in the end of 2024.
It also has the potential to recover from the decline it has experienced and stand out in the technology market, especially in the videoconferencing segment, which has been less and less in demand post-pandemic and in times of remote work. Demonstrating its ability to innovate and adapt to changes in the economic and social panorama, offering quality and safe solutions to its customers. Therefore, it is believed that Zoom is a good investment option for those seeking long-term profitability and growth.

I hope you enjoyed this article and found it helpful. Thank you for your attention, and until next time!