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Guinness Global Innovators, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund generated a total return of 21.9% (TR in GBP) in 2024, compared to the MSCI World Net TR Index return of 20.8%. 2024 turned out to be yet another successful year for stocks. For the first time since the 1990s, the S&P 500 has now produced two years in a row with returns of more than 20% (USD). Against a complex backdrop of shifting monetary policy, geopolitical instability, and disparate regional economic performance, global equities markets produced strong returns. To get an idea of the fund's best choices for 2024, check out its top 5 positions.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Guinness Global Innovators emphasized stocks such as Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM). Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) offers an Artificial Intelligence-first work platform for human connection. The one-month return Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) was -6.33%, and its shares gained 13.88% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 22, 2025, Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) stock closed at $75.97 per share with a market capitalization of $23.189 billion.
Guinness Global Innovators stated the following regarding Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
"Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) has struggled since coming out of the pandemic with changing consumer trends and a tougher macroeconomic environment. At purchase, Zoom looked attractive from a valuation perspective, having derated from its 2021 highs to near pre-pandemic levels – despite being a fundamentally better business. The company had built a strong brand, with ‘Zoom’ becoming synonymous with online conferencing and video calling after the company’s success during the pandemic, and the resulting paradigm shift towards increased hybrid working. What was once a more ‘speculative’ growth stock at the start of the pandemic, was now a slightly more mature growth company with high market share (underpinned by a best-in-class product), stickier revenues, and a stronger balance sheet with $5bn in cash creating room for growth investment. With a superior product and strong brand presence, growth expectations for the company were around mid to high single digits. However, since purchase, Zoom has returned -34% versus the MSCI World Index, which was up 28%, with a growth profile that has disappointed. The company’s key Enterprise segment has seen decelerating growth, with both customer growth and the net dollar expansion rate (Zoom’s revenue per user metric slowing significantly). Customer growth has slowed from a rate of 25% YoY in the quarter prior to purchase to an estimated 3.6% by the first quarter of 2024. Net Dollar Expansion rate has slowed even further, currently at 101% (1Q24) vs c.123% at purchase..." (Click here to read the full text)
