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Microsoft's (MSFT) Teams Sees Growth Amid Coronavirus Scare
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Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) recently announced that its Teams Communication platform has witnessed a robust surge in usage owing to the coronavirus-induced demand.
Notably, the company stated that Teams recently set a new daily record of 2.7 billion meeting minutes, up 200% from 900 million minutes on Mar 16. The platform is also being used by 183K users from 175 countries for educational purposes.
Moreover, the number of video calls increased 1000% in March, with most of the growth coming from Norway, Netherlands, Australia and Italy, among others. Video usage was lower in countries like India and South Africa due to a lack of stable internet and less access to devices.
Further, the number of conferences and live events being hosted online on Teams is also increasing. Markedly, the number of Stream videos in Teams per week witnessed growth of more than 500% in March.
The surge in usage bodes well for the platform’s growth over the long haul and is expected to boost investor confidence in the stock. Notably, shares of Microsoft have returned 4.7% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 0.1%.
Microsoft is also enhancing Teams’ capabilities by adding new functionalities to attract new users amid the growing demand for enterprise communication platforms.
Recently, the company updated Teams with features like custom backgrounds, which allow users to change the background in Teams meetings. Moreover, meeting organizers are now able to download participant reports and end meetings with a single click.
Further, the company has announced updates like the “raise hand” feature, and the addition of noise suppression capabilities to reduce background noise, to enhance user experience.
Microsoft also partnered with Slack to enhance the capabilities of their respective platforms and aid users in working from home efficiently amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
Usage Growth to Boost Teams’ Competitive Position
The addition of capabilities is expected to give Teams an edge against competitors like Zoom (ZM - Free Report) , Slack and Cisco’s (CSCO - Free Report) Webex.
Notably, Webex reportedly recorded 324 million users in March, with more than double user growth in the United States. The app also witnessed around 73 million meetings in March, with more than 22 million of them taking place per week in the last two weeks of the month.
Moreover, Zoom’s daily active users (DAUs) increased to 200 million as of March 2020 compared to 10 million DAUs in December 2019. However, the company has come under scrutiny due to its privacy and security policies.
Further, Slack’s connected user base increased from 10 million on Mar 10 to 12.5 million on Mar 25. Additionally, 9000 paid users were added between Feb 1 and Mar 25, up 80% over the full quarterly total for the preceding two quarters.
Nevertheless, Teams’ growing usage and strong capabilities bode well and are likely to expand its presence in the enterprise communication space. Notably, the market is expected to witness a CAGR of 17.5% between 2020 and 2025, per Mordor Intelligence data.
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Image: Bigstock
Microsoft's (MSFT) Teams Sees Growth Amid Coronavirus Scare
Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) recently announced that its Teams Communication platform has witnessed a robust surge in usage owing to the coronavirus-induced demand.
Notably, the company stated that Teams recently set a new daily record of 2.7 billion meeting minutes, up 200% from 900 million minutes on Mar 16. The platform is also being used by 183K users from 175 countries for educational purposes.
Moreover, the number of video calls increased 1000% in March, with most of the growth coming from Norway, Netherlands, Australia and Italy, among others. Video usage was lower in countries like India and South Africa due to a lack of stable internet and less access to devices.
Further, the number of conferences and live events being hosted online on Teams is also increasing. Markedly, the number of Stream videos in Teams per week witnessed growth of more than 500% in March.
The surge in usage bodes well for the platform’s growth over the long haul and is expected to boost investor confidence in the stock. Notably, shares of Microsoft have returned 4.7% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 0.1%.
Microsoft Corporation Price and Consensus
Microsoft Corporation price-consensus-chart | Microsoft Corporation Quote
New Features to Drive Teams Adoption
Microsoft is also enhancing Teams’ capabilities by adding new functionalities to attract new users amid the growing demand for enterprise communication platforms.
Recently, the company updated Teams with features like custom backgrounds, which allow users to change the background in Teams meetings. Moreover, meeting organizers are now able to download participant reports and end meetings with a single click.
Further, the company has announced updates like the “raise hand” feature, and the addition of noise suppression capabilities to reduce background noise, to enhance user experience.
Microsoft also partnered with Slack to enhance the capabilities of their respective platforms and aid users in working from home efficiently amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
Usage Growth to Boost Teams’ Competitive Position
The addition of capabilities is expected to give Teams an edge against competitors like Zoom (ZM - Free Report) , Slack and Cisco’s (CSCO - Free Report) Webex.
Notably, Webex reportedly recorded 324 million users in March, with more than double user growth in the United States. The app also witnessed around 73 million meetings in March, with more than 22 million of them taking place per week in the last two weeks of the month.
Moreover, Zoom’s daily active users (DAUs) increased to 200 million as of March 2020 compared to 10 million DAUs in December 2019. However, the company has come under scrutiny due to its privacy and security policies.
Further, Slack’s connected user base increased from 10 million on Mar 10 to 12.5 million on Mar 25. Additionally, 9000 paid users were added between Feb 1 and Mar 25, up 80% over the full quarterly total for the preceding two quarters.
Nevertheless, Teams’ growing usage and strong capabilities bode well and are likely to expand its presence in the enterprise communication space. Notably, the market is expected to witness a CAGR of 17.5% between 2020 and 2025, per Mordor Intelligence data.
Zacks Rank
Microsoft currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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