Talk about a descent to earth. Zoom Video, the rocket ship of the pandemic, has turned into a modern-day blimp in the stock sell-off of the past 12 months. Its stock has dropped 75% from the highs set in the fall of 2020 to Wednesday’s close of $140.33 as investors abandoned high-growth stocks. But Zoom has fallen too far.
In a rising interest rate environment, companies that are making money now become worth more, investors say, while those that are growing revenues quickly but for whom profits are years away are worth less. And Zoom ranks up there with the best on measures of cash generation. It is expected to report free cash flow—cash from operations, less capex—of about $1.5 billion for the year to January, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. That’s about 38% of its expected revenues, a relatively high percentage compared to other software companies.