As meetings have moved from the physical to virtual space, it seems one company is being trusted above all others to keep us connected. Zoom has been a saving grace for many in the quarantine era, as it’s allowed us all to host business meetings, Webinars, trivia/games nights, or just catch up with friends and family! It's certainly been a help for us here at the Cluster as a means of staying connected to our team/clients. Although as with any technology, it has it's faults, but the convenience of Zoom cannot be denied.
Their rapid growth in the market comes with the new wave of “stay at home” stocks that have become “bright spots” in a currently volatile market. Others riding this wave (according to JP Morgan analysts) are companies like Netflix, Amazon and Facebook, all of who’s share prices and revenue estimates have been rising during the pandemic.
Keen investors have also been trying to ride this wave along with ZOOM. Although it seems many have failed to read the fine print as they blindly invested in the OTC:ZOOM ticker, despite it belonging to a company that has had no reported earnings since 2011!
The ticker belongs to, ZOOM TECHNOLOGIES (not Zoom Video Communications which is OTC:ZM), and because of this mistaken identity shares in the company went up +52% as reported on Feb 27th,and a further +72% as recently as March 20th! Its market summary is quite dramatic to look at.
Shortly after that 72% spike, trading in ZOOM TECHNOLOGIES was suspended till the 8th of April by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. They addressed the decision in the following statement:
“The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of ZOOM because of concerns about the adequacy and accuracy of publicly available information concerning ZOOM, including its financial condition and its operations, if any,in light of the absence of any public disclosure by the company since 2015…
“The Commission cautions broker-dealers, shareholders and prospective purchasers that they should carefully consider the foregoing information along with all other currently available information and any information subsequently issued by the company.”
The freeze happened, the fog of confusion cleared, and it seems ZOOM TECH has returned to the obscurity from whence it came. This has left plenty of room for ZOOM VIDEO stocks to grow and grow, although another hurdle has caused its celebration party to come plummeting down. This time the party pooper is Zuckerberg and the Facebook empire, as they announced recently they’ll be launching, Messenger Rooms, which will allow as many as 50 people onto a call (along with many other features)! The “Rooms” are more focused on the social aspects of video calls and aim to feel less corporate than what is currently on the market. However, the announcement has sent ZOOM VIDEO stocks falling.
I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them though, as ZOOM (video) still has an evaluation of $44 Billion dollars. Although, will this be enough to take on the behemoth, Facebook? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
