Josh Brown sees key role for Zoom post-Covid, says its shares are worth owning

Published Thu, Jun 10 20211:42 PM EDTUpdated Thu, Jun 10 20215:07 PM EDT

Kevin Stankiewicz @in/kevin-stankiewicz-b5593466 @kevin_stank

Josh Brown said Thursday that Zoom Video will continue to play an important role in the post-Covid corporate world, justifying his ownership of the stock. "It's not that everything is going to be a Zoom all the time; there will be things that go back to in-person," Brown said on "Halftime Report." "But this opportunity is big enough, I believe, that Zoom's platform, the sheer scale of how many millions of customers it has daily using its services — I think that potential has been ignored." Zoom was one of the biggest pandemic winners on Wall Street last year. Shares traded in the $70s in January 2020 before taking off as lockdowns swept the globe and millions of people turned to the company's videoconferencing services for both work and social life. However, after hitting an all-time high of $588.84 per share in mid-October, Zoom has struggled as investors move into stocks that benefit from an economic recovery and a more robust return to in-person activities. Zoom shares closed at $346.50 apiece Thursday, down more than 40% from its October peak. The stock, which is up nearly 3% so far in 2021, had fallen below $300 in May. Brown, a CNBC contributor who is CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said he believes sentiment around Zoom's post-pandemic future has become too negative. "I think the stock works here in the mid-$300s. I don't know that it's going back to $600, but I'm happy being a shareholder right now," said Brown, who also writes the The Reformed Broker blog . The investor said his outlook on Zoom was informed, in part, by the role videoconferencing continues to play for his New York-based company. "I don't think these enterprises that have signed up with Zoom are just going to say, 'Oh, there's a vaccine? Let's stop Zooming,'" Brown said. "I run a business. I have 41 employees. I don't have people crisscrossing the country on airplanes right now, and I don't think I will six months either because of how effective Zoom communications have been for our clients, our partners, our vendors."

Source: Nasdaq

Josh Brown said Thursday that Zoom Video will continue to play an important role in the post-Covid corporate world, justifying his ownership of the stock.

"It's not that everything is going to be a Zoom all the time; there will be things that go back to in-person," Brown said on "Halftime Report." "But this opportunity is big enough, I believe, that Zoom's platform, the sheer scale of how many millions of customers it has daily using its services — I think that potential has been ignored."

Zoom was one of the biggest pandemic winners on Wall Street last year. Shares traded in the $70s in January 2020 before taking off as lockdowns swept the globe and millions of people turned to the company's videoconferencing services for both work and social life.