SAN JOSE — Zoom Video Communications partied Friday evening in downtown San Jose like it was, well, 2019.
The cloud-based video and web conferencing upstart went public this week, and on Friday went to a party at bustling San Pedro Square to toast the tech company’s success.
Employees wore Zoom shirts to the event in the heart of downtown San Jose’s busiest nightlife and dining hub, passing under an archway with the company name to enter the celebration area.
“It’s great that Zoom is doing this for us,” said a Zoom worker on her way to the outdoor party that was staged in the shadows of older office buildings and new residential towers in downtown San Jose, some still under construction this week.
The Zoom workers gave each other high fives and hugs as they mingled in the aftermath of the company’s initial public stock offering. Pizza, beer, wine and cocktails were very much in evidence in the big gathering areas for the Zoom party that took place inside and outside the San Pedro Square main building Friday evening.
“It’s wonderful to see a home-grown company expand and still maintain the enthusiasm of a startup,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in an interview with this news organization Friday.
Several Zoom employees interviewed outside the event said they love working for the company as well as being located downtown.
“There is a genuine enthusiasm among Zoomers for both the company and for San Jose,” the mayor said.
The Zoom IPO, priced at $36 a share, which was above the proposed sales range for the shares of $33 to $35 apiece, raised $751 million on April 17.
The company’s shares rocketed 72.2 percent above the IPO price Thursday and closed at $62, on a red-hot first day of trading. The stock markets were closed on Good Friday.
For Zoom’s 2019 fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, the company generated $330.5 million in revenue, which was 118 percent higher — more than double — Zoom’s 2018 fiscal year revenue of $151.5 million.
Losses have dwindled steadily in recent years for Zoom. Zoom broke even in fiscal 2019, a dramatic improvement from losses of $14.4 million in fiscal 2017 and $8.2 million in fiscal 2018.
“No one was more proud than I was to see a local company on a global stage ringing the bell at the NASDAQ,” Liccardo said.
