Zoom shares hit record highs as usage soars during pandemic

Zoom shares hit a record high last night after the company revealed a surge in earnings.

The videoconferencing technology has been a hit since the pandemic struck earlier this year, with users around the globe using the software for both work and social reasons.

Revenues leapt 355% to $663.5 million (£496.3 million) for the three months ending 31 July, while profits soared to $186 million - double what they were at this point last year.

As a result shares, which have surged almost four-fold this year, rose 9% to $355.30 after the bell.

Since the start of the pandemic, Zoom has worked to convert the mass of free users into paying customers and the effort appears to have paid off.

Zoom’s number of large customers - those generating more than $100,000 in revenue - more than doubled to 988 over the quarter.

When the pandemic hit in early 2020, Zoom was a relative upstart founded by a former Cisco executive that had gone public on a promise to make video conferencing software easier to use.

But the ease of use came with privacy and security concerns that drove some customers to competitors earlier this year and prompted Zoom to embark on a 90-day plan to address the issues.

Zoom began testing end-to-end encryption of its service in July but has not yet implemented the feature for most users.

Zoom rivals such as Microsoft’s Teams and Cisco System’s Webex have also seen soaring usage.