Investors have been somewhat downbeat on the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.30%) lately, seemingly preferring stocks outside the tech-heavy index after huge runs higher for many of the Nasdaq's biggest companies. That continued to be the case on Wednesday morning, as the Nasdaq lagged behind other major benchmarks with gains of just 0.2% as of 11:30 a.m. EDT.
Investors always want to hear how top companies are doing on the earnings front, and many were looking forward to the latest news from Zoom Video Communications (ZM 0.16%) regarding how it has done as the pandemic in the U.S. starts to ease in intensity. Meanwhile, the long-awaited merger that brought SoFi Technologies (SOFI 0.81%) public has gone through, and the stock has gotten a nice boost in the couple of days since it became available to those who didn't want to buy pre-merger shares of the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with which it combined.
Not Zooming higher
Shares of Zoom Video Communications were down a fraction of a percent on Wednesday morning. The move came amid what seemed on its face to be an upbeat report from the video conferencing specialist about how it has done over the past few months.
Image source: Zoom Video Communications.
First-quarter revenue amounted to $956 million, which nearly tripled from year-earlier levels. Zoom also saw massive year-over-year growth in the number of major customers producing revenue contributions of $100,000 or more, and counted nearly half a million customers with more than 10 employees using the service.
However, many investors were nervous about the slowing growth trends that Zoom has seen. Compared to three months ago, revenue was up just 8%, and net income actually fell sequentially by 13% as rising overhead and selling costs outpaced sales growth. Moreover, calls for less than $1 billion in revenue in the second quarter suggest the slowdown will continue as Zoom's obvious growth drivers fade.
Zoom was the growth darling of 2020, but its stock remains well below its past highs. That goes to show just how important it is for high-growth stocks to maintain their growth momentum, as without it, the stock price can come falling back to earth quickly.
SoFi gets fanfare
The SPAC revolution might be on hold, but shares of SoFi Technologies have gotten a nice boost. The stock rose 7%, adding to Tuesday's 12% gain.
SoFi's merger with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings V got finalized late last week following the necessary shareholder vote among investors in the SPAC approving the deal. The merger took slightly longer than some had expected to finish, causing considerable volatility in the stock price in the interim. Since the deal got initially announced in early January, the stock had traded as high as $28 per share and fallen below $15 per share briefly last month before beginning its latest charge higher.
Now it's up to SoFi to make good on its prospects. The company has done a good job of building a financial ecosystem that includes lending, savings, investing, and other financial services, and it has the potential to expand further in the future. SoFi's first-quarter financial results were extremely strong, helping to launch the stock's most recent foray higher. Yet SoFi is far from the only fintech player looking to leverage the power of technology to build out a comprehensive platform of financial services.
Many SPACs have lost their gains over time. SoFi hopes to be the exception, and many shareholders will watch closely to see what comes from the budding fintech in the months to come.
