Out of meeting minutes… The Zoom boom may be over. A year ago, Zoom’s quarterly sales quadrupled from 2019 as businesses scrambled to WFH. Last quarter, Zoom posted record sales thanks to its 500K+ corporate customers. But growth has slowed dramatically as IRL work returns, and Zoom’s stock has plunged by half since its pandemic peak. Now it’s branching into licensing its video tech to other apps (think: dating) and letting people host paid events, like virtual Pilates. We’ll see if that’s helping when Zoom reports today.
Lined up at 5 a.m.… Retailers are bracing for Black Friday. Gap and Urban placed orders as early as six months ago to avoid supply backlogs, and retailers like Amazon and Target launched BF deals last month. Consumer spending has boosted sales at Urban, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Gap, and Nordstrom — which all report this week. Meanwhile: Walmart, Kohl’s, Macy’s, and TJ Maxx posted strong quarterly sales last week. Despite soaring supply and labor costs, Target, TJ Maxx, and Walmart all said they’re stocked up.