(Bloomberg) — Zoom Video Communications Inc. reported quarterly sales that leapfrogged estimates, showing that a surge in demand for its video-conference service during the coronavirus pandemic has translated into more paying customers. The company also about doubled its annual revenue forecast.Revenue increased about 170% to $328.2 million in the period that ended April 30, the San Jose, California-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts, on average, expected $203 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit, excluding some items, was 20 cents a share, compared with analysts’ average projection of 9 cents.Zoom projected sales of as much as $1.8 billion in the fiscal year, from a forecast of as much as $915 million in early March. Analysts estimated $930.8 million.Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan has tried to ensure that his virtual-meeting platform can cope with a swell of demand from people forced to remain home to prevent the spread of Covid-19. While security and privacy issues plagued the system early in the quarantine, Zoom has become an essential social network, attracting more than 300 million participants some days, up from 10 million in December. The software maker allows gatherings of as long as 40 minutes for no charge. While Zoom has attracted more buzz than corporate rivals, its ability to attract more paying customers will determine how well it’s faring against competition from Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.Shares increased 4% in extended trading after closing at a record $208.08 in New York. The stock has more than tripled this year.Zoom said it ended the quarter with about 265,400 customers with more than 10 employees, a more than fourfold increase from the same period a year earlier. The company now has 769 corporate clients that have spent more than $100,000 on Zoom’s products over the last 12 months, about double from a year earlier.The company said its expects adjusted profit in the fiscal year will be $355 million to $380 million, or $1.21 to $1.29 a share. Analysts had estimated 46 cents, just more than Zoom’s earlier forecast. The company has been spending to bolster its network capacity, including by buying cloud-computing services from Oracle Corp. during the pandemic. Zoom also continues to use Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud service.With Zoom’s popularity has come controversy over the company’s security practices. Trolls have invaded myriad meetings, religious gatherings and other events, to share pornography and shout profanity or racial epithets, in a phenomenon known as “Zoombombing.” The company highlighted or created a raft of tools users can employ to prevent the virtual attacks, including passwords and waiting rooms.There also were instances when Zoom calls were routed through servers in China even when no participant was based there and users were unwittingly sending metadata to Facebook Inc. when they signed in. Zoom put an end to both practices. The company pledged to commit to bolstering privacy over all other concerns for three months, purchasing a secure-messaging company, Keybase, to bring the highest standard of encryption to the platform, and hiring cybersecurity experts to guide safety efforts.(Updates with profit forecast in the seventh paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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In this article we will check out the progression of hedge fund sentiment towards Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) and determine whether it is a good investment right now. We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before spending days of research on it. Given their 2 and […]

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The announcements come a week after Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s Chief Operating Officer Meng Wanzhou was dealt a setback by a Canadian court as she tries to avoid extradition to the United States to face bank fraud charges. Canada, which is reviewing the security implications of 5G networks, is yet to decide on allowing Huawei to build 5G cellphone networks in the country.

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After more than two months of being completely shut down, casinos on the Las Vegas strip will reopen this week for the first time as part of the city's "Phase 2" plan to safely return to normal. While reopenings will be a big step in the right direction for casino stock investors, Vegas will still have a steep hill to climb in the near term.What Happened? On June 4, MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) plans to reopen the Bellagio, MGM Grand and New York-New York casinos, which represent a combined 39% of the company's total Las Vegas rooms. Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) also plans to reopen Caesars Palace and the Flamingo, which account for 32% of its total Vegas rooms.Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN) also plans to open both its Wynn and Encore casinos. Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is reopening the Venetian and the Palazzo.Why It's Important: The good news for casino stock investors is that other regional casinos that have already reopened have witnessed significant pent-up demand. For example, Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos reopened at half capacity for Memorial Day weekend and reported a 17.3% increase in gross gaming revenue for the weekend compared to last year. Bank of America analyst Shaun Kelley said Tuesday casinos in other regions of the country have demonstrated similar trends."Casino openings so far have shown signs of pent-up demand, a trend which we expect to persist in the near-term possibly making our down ~95% GGR estimates for Q2 too conservative," Kelley wrote in a note.See Also: Analyst: Why Penn National And Boyd Could Outperform As US Casinos Reopen What's Next? Unfortunately, Kelley said Vegas may be one of the slowest areas to recover due to its reliance on air travel, cancellations of events and conventions and relatively low pricing power. Kelley estimates air traffic makes up roughly 60% of Vegas' total visitors, and the latest air traffic data suggests travel remains down about 90% from a year ago.For investors looking to bet on a Vegas recovery, Bank of America has the following ratings and price targets for the four casino stocks mentioned: * Las Vegas Sands, Buy rating and $61 target. * Wynn Resorts, Buy rating and $95 target. * MGM Resorts, Underperform rating and $15 target. * Caesars, no rating.Benzinga's TakeFor the next several months, most investors will be looking past abysmal near-term numbers and hoping that their stocks catch a bid based on expectations that the economy will eventually return to normal.Las Vegas casino stocks will likely be closely tied to a recovery in air travel, and Bank of America estimates 2021 US airline revenue will be down just 18% from 2019 levels.Do you agree with this take? Email feedback@benzinga.com with your thoughts.Latest Ratings for MGM DateFirmActionFromTo May 2020UBSMaintainsNeutral May 2020Credit SuisseAssumesNeutral May 2020B of A SecuritiesDowngradesNeutralUnderperform View More Analyst Ratings for MGM View the Latest Analyst RatingsSee more from Benzinga * 7 Sin Stocks To Buy During The Coronavirus Shutdown * Q1 13F Roundup: How Buffett, Einhorn, Ackman And Others Adjusted Their Portfolios * The Road To Recovery For Las Vegas Casino Stocks(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley joins Kristin Myers to discuss how tech companies are responding to the death of George Floyd.

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Zoom is scheduled to report its Q1 2021 earnings after the bell on Tuesday.

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Video Communications company Zoom is set to release its first-quarter fiscal 2021 earnings on Tuesday. Yahoo Finance’s Melody Hahm discusses.

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Urban Forage Winery & Cider House owners Jeff and Gita Rijal Zeitler join Yahoo FInance’s Zack Guzman to discuss how their business was among those damaged in Minneapolis in the wake of protests over George Floyd’s death.

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