Zoom Communications' New AI Services Impressive, Oppenheimer Says in Upgrade

12:51 PM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Zoom Communications' (ZM) new services are impressive and should help the company become a broader artificial intelligence-powered communications and workflow platform, Oppenheimer said Wednesday. At its annual Zoomtopia customer conference this week, the video communication platform introduced new services enhanced by AI, including the Unified Context Layer, which links conversation history with relevant documents and data for AI agents to process. The company's AI-powered video meeting platform is driving strong subscription growth and higher customer retention, which bodes well for its financial performance, Oppenheimer analysts Timothy Horan and Daniel McDermott said in a note to clients Wednesday. "We attended the Zoomtopia conference in the last two days and were impressed by the company's range of new services, as were its customers," the analysts said. "We gain confidence in its transition from video meetings to a broader AI communications and workflow platform." The brokerage upgraded its rating on the Zoom stock to outperform from perform, with a $130 price target. The company's shares were up 2.8% in Wednesday afternoon trade, taking its year-to-date gains to about 16%. Zoom's AI platform "benefits from unique data, recursive learning and use of a dozen different models on an easy-to-use service," the Oppenheimer analysts said. "Its AI platform is enjoying strong uptake, growing (average revenue per user) and retention," Horan and McDermott said. "Integrating communications with AI applications should deepen customer relationships and raise the growth rate to double digits, all on stable margins." Zoom's AI platform, which competes with Microsoft (MSFT) Teams, should support stronger growth in a duopoloy market, the analysts said. "Phone has more than 10 (million) licenses, but reaches only 29% of enterprise accounts," Oppenheimer said. "We see substantial room for migrations, cross-selling and greater monetization of the installed base." Zoom's revenue growth is expected to accelerate to 6% to 8% in fiscal 2030, from 4% currently, driven by double-digit enterprise growth, the analysts said. The brokerage raised its long-term revenue estimates on the company, with 2030 top-line now seen at $6.06 billion, according to the note. In August, Zoom delivered a fiscal second-quarter beat, but provided a downbeat earnings outlook for its third quarter at the time. Price: 99.96, Change: +2.50, Percent Change: +2.57