Zoom slips even as Baird says AI, Docs should boost platform
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Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) shares sank more than 3% on Wednesday even as investment firm Baird said the company's announcements at its annual Zoomtopia conference will add to its platform, even if it means further competition with Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL).
Analyst William Power, who has an outperform rating and $90 price target on Zoom (ZM), said he remains "positive" on the company's opportunities in phone, contact centers and artificial intelligence. The company's AI companion, which is now available to paying users at no additional cost, is a differentiator to other AI assistants, including Microsoft's (MSFT) Copilot and Google's Duet AI, both of which cost $30 per month per user. 
Power added that Zoom's (ZM) AI companion - which is available across all of its products - already has the ability to summarize meetings and chats, along with providing smart recordings, with more to come. 
At the conference, Zoom (ZM), led by Chief Executive Eric Yuan, said it has nearly 30,000 customers using the AI companion, a month after it launched.
Additionally, Power said the company's opportunities in Contact Center and Docs - new market that Zoom (ZM) is entering in 2024, going up against Microsoft Office and Google Docs - should boost the company's long-term opportunities. 
Zoom Docs is powered by AI and can be used to create documents, track projects, management tasks and others, with customers having the ability to tailor it to their specific needs and integrate into Zoom and provide support for third-party applications.
Power also said that Zoom (ZM), which some have speculated could be acquired itself, is likely to look at both smaller tuck-in acquisitions and larger ones as well. 
"Technology fit, culture and valuation are all key factors," Power wrote in an investor note. "We suspect adjacencies to contact center could make sense."



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