By Kit Norton

Shares of Zoom Communications rose Thursday after the pandemic darling beat analyst expectations with its fiscal first-quarter earnings and raised its full-fiscal year guidance, as the company leans into artificial-intelligence offerings.

Zoom stock jumped 8% in after-hours trade on Thursday. Shares fell 2.7% to $96.75 during regular market trading. Zoom stock, which soared and then tanked during the Covid-19 pandemic, has advanced 12% in 2026.

Zoom posted adjusted earnings of $1.55 a share for the quarter ended April 30, compared with $1.43 a share last year and beating the $1.42 a share analyst consensus expectation. The company's revenue grew 5.5% to $1.24 billion, coming in above Wall Street's $1.22 billion prediction, according to FactSet.

Zoom reported that the revenue growth was due to an increase in customers and AI adoption.

"Customers are increasingly adopting Zoom as an AI-first system of action for modern work," CEO Eric Yuan said in the earnings release.

Yuan added that paid users of Zoom's "AI Companion" grew 184% compared to a year ago and that the video calling company' "My Notes" AI program reached 1.5 million licensed users within just four months of its launch.

"We also saw strong progress across new AI monetization streams and Zoom Customer Experience, which continued to see accelerating high double-digit growth," Yuan said.

For the fiscal second quarter, Zoom forecasts adjusted profit of $1.45 a share to $1.47 a share with revenue between $1.265 billion and $1.27 billion. The Wall Street expectation is for earnings of $1.49 a share with sales totaling $1.266 billion, according to FactSet.

The video calling company also raised its full-fiscal year guidance, expecting earnings of $5.96 a share and $6.00 a share, above analysts' $5.88 a share prediction. Zoom now forecasts fiscal 2027 revenue coming in between $5.08 billion and $5.09 billion, topping Wall Street's expectations of $5.07 billion.

"With strong profitability, cash flow, and an increased share-repurchase authorization, we remain focused on turning AI innovation into durable growth, measurable customer value, and long-term shareholder returns," the Zoom CEO said.

Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com

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May 21, 2026 17:28 ET (21:28 GMT)

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