Financial report outlook | Zoom (ZM.US) Q4 financial report countdown Can it "replicate" the better-than-expected performance of the previous quarter?

The video conferencing platform Zoom (ZM.US) will announce its fourth quarter financial results after the market closes on February 24th, Eastern Time. Analysts expect Zoom's revenue for the quarter to increase by 2.8% year-on-year, reaching $1.18 billion, a figure comparable to the 2.6% growth recorded in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be $1.35. In the previous quarter, Zoom's revenue exceeded analysts' expectations by 1.2%, reporting revenue of $1.18 billion, a 3.6% year-on-year increase. For the company, this was a strong quarter, not only significantly exceeding analysts' estimates in terms of billing amounts, but also pleasantly surprising with its EBITDA exceeding expectations. The company added 62 enterprise customers paying over $100,000 annually, bringing the total to 3,995. In the past 30 days, analysts tracking the company have generally maintained their previous estimates, indicating their expectation of stable business growth for the company before the release of the financial report. Zoom has missed Wall Street's revenue expectations three times in the past two years. Prior to Zoom, some of its competitors in the video conferencing sector have already reported their fourth quarter financial results, which has set market expectations for Zoom. Five9 (FIVN.US) saw a 16.6% year-on-year revenue increase, surpassing analysts' expectations by 4%; RingCentral (RNG.US) reported a revenue growth of 7.6%, in line with market expectations. Following the financial reports, Five9's stock price remained unchanged, while RingCentral's stock price fell by 5.8%. Recently, inflation has been moving towards the Federal Reserve's 2% target, driving strong performance in the stock market. Recent rate cuts and the settling of the dust around the 2024 presidential election have added more vitality to the market. Although some video conferencing stocks have performed well, the overall sector has underperformed, with an average price decline of 3.3% in the past month. During the same period, Zoom's stock price remained unchanged, and heading into the financial reporting period, analysts have an average target price of $92.35 (current price is $82.60). Is this long-standing industry leader Zoom facing new challenges? With its valuation skyrocketing in 2024, many investors are cautious about further investment. Certainly, opportunities always exist in the stock market, but finding these opportunities seems more difficult than a year ago. According to the average estimate of specific Zoom metrics that Wall Street analysts typically monitor and predict collected by Zack, analysts expect "Asia Pacific (APAC) region revenue" to be $1.451 billion. This forecast shows a 2.3% year-on-year increase. According to analysts' consensus estimates, "Geographic Revenue - Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)" should be $1.8837 billion, indicating a 2.9% year-on-year growth. "Geographic Revenue - Americas" is expected to reach $8.4482 billion. This estimate represents a 2.8% growth compared to the same period last year. Analysts predict that the number of 'Enterprise Customers' will reach 196,933. This is a decrease compared to the company's reported number of enterprise customers in the same period last year, which was 220,400. Analysts' consensus expectations show that 'Customers with TTM revenue exceeding $100,000' are expected to be 4,089, a decrease compared to the 3,810 reported in the same period last year. Analysts expect "Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO)" to reach $2.27 billion. This amount is higher compared to the company's reported amount of $2.08 billion in the same period last year. Analysts expect "Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO)" to reach $3.76 billion, in stark contrast to the $3.57 billion reported in the same period last year. The general expectation for "Non-Current Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO)" is $1.48 billion. This is slightly lower compared to the company's reported amount of $1.5 billion in the same period last year.