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Zoom Video Communications, commonly referred to as Zoom, is an American software company that specialises in peer-to-peer video conferencing. Eric Yuan, a former engineer at Cisco Systems, founded Zoom in 2011. Two years later he released the first iteration of Zoom’s video calling and chat platform.

The software initially gained traction as a business meeting platform. This helped it achieve a $1 billion valuation in 2017. With its reputation at an all-time high, Zoom began to add more features to its software, including the ability for third-party developers to build custom apps on the platform.

Zoom became profitable in 2019 and, soon after, it held an initial public offering (IPO). Zoom usage spiked in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Business usage was surpassed by casual video calls, a shift that propelled Zoom into the mainstream and a sharp increase in revenue. As of 2022, Zoom had over 6,700 employees, including hundreds at its headquarters in San Jose. Revenue in 2022 hit $3.05 billion.

Zoom stock first became available to trade in 2019. The Zoom share price opened at $36 on April 17, 2019. The following day, Zoom shares were trading at $66. The IPO raised $356.8 million and, 12 months later, Zoom stock surged as COVID-19 restrictions disrupted in-person forms of interaction.

A peak price of $559 in October 2020 saw trading activity in the tech company surge. The Zoom share price history shows a change of direction following the end of COVID-19 restrictions. A gradual fall from the 2020 peak left Zoom stock shares trading below $200 at the start of 2022 and, by year’s end, under $100.

Why trade Zoom stock when there are other options? Zoom has established itself in the digital meeting space through a combination of early innovations and pandemic-induced popularity. The number of daily meeting participants has been as high as 300 million and revenue has continued to increase post-COVID-19.

However, other tech companies are vying to become the dominant name in digital chat and video conferencing. Google’s Chat software has the backing of a company that generated over $184 million worth of revenue in 2021. Other viable alternatives to Zoom are Microsoft Teams, Skype, Slack and Amazon Chime.

Zoom could also face competition from companies investing in Metaverse technology, such as Facebook. On this basis, trading Zoom stock has some advantages and disadvantages. However, if you want to create a diverse portfolio of tech shares, there are trading options for all the major video and chat providers at Skilling.