What's going on?

Zoom gave a disappointing quarterly results update earlier this week.

What does this mean?

Zoom�s peak-Covid glory days are well and truly behind it, with the teleconferencing service losing sales from individuals and small businesses even faster than it forecast. That�s increasingly pushed it to try and attract more enterprise customers, but even that segment � now responsible for more than half its revenue � had a humdrum quarter: the company added just 3% more enterprise clients from the quarter before, bringing the total to just over 200,000. So while overall revenue was 8% higher than the same time last year, it still represented the company�s slowest growth on record � not to mention the first time it�s ever missed analysts� expectations (tweet this).

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Zoom versus Microsoft.
One of the ways Zoom tried to win over big businesses was with its June launch of �Zoom One� � a bundle that includes internet-connected phones and physical conference rooms. And while analysts are generally upbeat about those secondary offerings, they�re still worried Zoom can�t compete with the likes of Microsoft. The Zoom name, after all, doesn�t have quite the same clout with businesses as Microsoft�s does, while the latter�s ability to package Teams into Office 365 � used pretty much everywhere � gives it a clear advantage.

Zooming out: Zoom is only going one way.
Investors sent Zoom�s stock down 9% after the news, not least because the company cut its full-year outlook for both revenue and profit. That makes this the seventh of the last eight earnings reports where investors have sent its stock down afterward. Zoom�s stock is now worth half as much as it was at the end of last year, which Citi analysts think is just the beginning: they downgraded it to a �sell� rating last week.