Zoom Communications Inc. (ZM  ) is leveraging its strategic investment in Anthropic alongside proprietary technology to power a flexible multi-model strategy, a "federated AI" approach that leadership says is driving its fastest enterprise growth in three years. Powering the Federated AI Strategy

During Zoom's fiscal second-quarter earnings call, executives outlined how the company is evolving into an "AI-first system of action." Central to this transformation is Zoom's multi-model architecture, supported by its early $51 million strategic stake in AI pioneer Anthropic. This foundation allows Zoom to seamlessly blend third-party models with its own small language models (SLMs).

Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan highlighted how this architectural flexibility creates a distinct competitive advantage across core products like Zoom Contact Center and Zoom Virtual Agent.

"A federated AI approach put us in a unique position," Yuan told analysts, emphasizing superior speech quality, lower latency, and enhanced customer trust.

Chief Financial Officer Michelle Chang detailed how this setup maintains margin discipline even as AI adoption grows. Non-GAAP gross margin reached 79.1% during the quarter.

Chang explained that confidence in long-term margins stems from "our federated approach in AI," which allows Zoom to be "able to take the best model for the right time at the right cost and be able to fluidly direct traffic in between that."

Enterprise Acceleration and Outlook

Wall Street analysts at BTIG and Wedbush point to Zoom's Anthropic stake-valued in the billions ahead of expected IPO activity-as a core asset protecting Zoom from competitive disruption while fueling its underlying platform monetization.

This strategy helped drive strong second-quarter financial results. Total revenue reached $1.28 billion, topping estimates, while enterprise revenue jumped 7.8% year-over-year to $787.5 million. Monthly active users of Zoom Workplace AI features surged 125%.

Despite a post-market stock decline tied to flat online revenue expectations, Zoom raised its full-year guidance to between $5.085 billion and $5.095 billion. Management remains confident that its Anthropic-backed federated AI strategy will sustain durable long-term enterprise deal momentum.

How Has Zoom Performed in 2026?

ZM shares rose 16.95% year-to-date, advanced by 24.06% over the last year, and rose 18.13% over the last six months. It closed 3.73% lower at $100.92 per share on Tuesday, and it was 5.77% lower in premarket on Wednesday.

Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that ZM maintains a strong price trend in the long, short, and medium terms, with a solid growth score.