What happened
Zoom Video Communications (ZM 1.19%) was an underperforming stock on Wednesday, even by the standards of the day's very gloomy market. The bellwether videoconferencing company's shares took a nearly 7% hit, a deeper slide than the 4%-plus decline of the S&P 500 index. Investors took an analyst's price target cut on the stock to heart, with many eagerly selling out of their Zoom positions.
So what
Before market open Wednesday, UBS prognosticator Karl Keirstead was ready with a pair of shears for Zoom stock. He trimmed his price target to $100 per share from the previous $130, maintaining his neutral recommendation on the stock as he did so.
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Keirstead's adjustment is based on the results of a survey his company conducted with approximately 400 IT decision makers whose organizations use Zoom's services. The poll revealed that a full 60% of those surveyed planned to grow their spending on such services by 5% or less. And 85% predicted said growth would be 15% or lower.
Perhaps more concerning, 92% of respondents said they were mulling the consolidation of their videoconferencing services, which doesn't bode well for spending on Zoom. Most of the people surveyed were eying Microsoft's Teams suite of workplace collaboration tools; it's hardly comforting that Zoom faces competition from such a well-capitalized and influential tech sector giant.
Now what
All that said, Keirstead still offered a few shards of optimism for Zoom investors. He believes the stock, which has been sold off considerably and is now less than half the price at which it began the year, is "washed-out and close to a bottom." For belivers in Zoom's business and potential, this could make for a tempting bargain buy opportunity.
