Expectations were high going into the fiscal 2021 first-quarter earnings report for Zoom Video Communications (ZM +2.24%). The cloud native video provider saw unprecedented demand in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was a lot of growth baked into the stock price, which had tripled since the beginning of 2020. Investors were concerned that the number of free users would hurt the results, but Zoom put those fears to rest, exceeding expectations by a wide margin.
Revenue of $328.2 million grew 169% year over year, accelerating from the 78% growth Zoom generated last quarter, and easily surpassing analysts' consensus estimates of $202 million and the high-end of management's forecast, which topped out at $201 million.
Image source: Zoom.
Zoom generated non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $0.20, up from $0.03 in the prior-year quarter and more than double both analyst and company expectations, which both came in at $0.09.
Customer gains were even more impressive. Zoom reported a total of 265,400 customers with more than 10 employees, up 354% year over year, while customers contributing $100,000 in trailing-12-month revenue grew 90%. The net dollar expansion rate -- which measures increased spending by existing clientele -- topped 130% for the eighth consecutive quarter.
Cash generated by operating activities was the headliner, increasing 10-fold to $259 million, up from just $22.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
Zoom expects its lofty growth to continue. The company is guiding for revenue of between $495 million and $500 million, which would represent year-over-year growth of 241% at the midpoint of its guidance. Zoom expects adjusted EPS of $0.45, an increase of 462%.
Even in the wake of 200% gains so far this year, Zoom stock climbed higher after hours, gaining over 4% in early after-hours trading.
