In another winning week, shares in Zoom Video Communications ended on a sour note after Facebook disclosed plans for a competing video chat product.
The news sent Zoom shares tumbling, eventually closing with a decline of 6.1 per cent on Friday. Still, the stock managed to gain more than 5 per cent for the week, fuelled by a surge in users who have embraced the video-conferencing software for work and socialising while confined to their homes.
Zoom’s shares have jumped more than 130 per cent this year, vaulting the company into the ranks of some of the most valuable US companies. At $44 billion (Dh161.5bn), Zoom’s market capitalisation is now bigger than nearly three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500 Index.
Investors have flocked to Zoom with much of the world home-bound to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. On Wednesday, Zoom reported a 50 per cent jump in users in the past three weeks.
Along with Zoom’s success has come headache, with the San Jose, California-based company facing backlash over privacy and security concerns that prompted an apology from chief executive Eric Yuan and moves to make the platform more secure.
In a challenge to Zoom, Facebook said the goal of its new video platform, which will allow as many as 50 people per chat, was to offer users a more social and less corporate feel than what’s currently available.
While Zoom already faced plenty of competition before Facebook joined the conversation, the news served as a reminder that the stock had a lot of optimism baked in as several analysts have recently warned.
JP Morgan on Thursday said that the current surge in users won’t necessarily result in a similar increase in revenue as many participants are using a free version. Last week, BTIG said Zoom is priced to “perfection” and warned of risks from security concerns.
Zoom’s valuation multiple has soared this year along with its share price. The stock is trading at around 29 times revenue over the past 12 months. That’s more than four times the average of the 96 companies in the S&P North American Technology Software Index.
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
