End of the Zoom boom? Citi analyst cuts stock to a rare ‘sell’ rating

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business

Zoom was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the work-from-anywhere trend that took hold during the height of the pandemic in 2020. But, as more people go back to the office on a regular basis, the stock has plunged. And one top Wall Street analyst thinks the worst is still yet to come.

Citi analyst Tyler Radke downgraded the video conferencing software company’s stosck to a rare “sell” rating on Tuesday. He cut his price target on the stock to $91 a share, almost 15% below its current price and nearly the lowest target among the analysts that follow Zoom. (Two other analysts have a $90 target.)

Radke said in a report that “Zoom’s post-Cpvod growth trajectory has always been more challenging,” but that there are now “new hurdles to sustaining growth.”

He cited increased competition from Microsoft, which has the rival Teams video conferencing product as well as concerns about a slowing economy hurting demand from small businesses. For those reasons, Radke said he was “making significant estimate cuts” to his sales and free cash flow forecasts for Zoom.

Shares of Zoom fell 5% Tuesday to about $108. The stock is now down nearly 45% this year and is trading more than 80% below the all-time high of about $589 that it hit in October 2020.

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