Zoom Communications' fiscal second-quarter earnings on Tuesday will be less about Zoom and more about another company's initial public offering. That isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks to an estimated 0.31% stake in Anthropic, Zoom shareholders are due for a payday after the artificial-intelligence lab goes public in the next couple of months. What Zoom CEO Eric Yuan says about this stake on Tuesday afternoon will move the stock.

The video-calling platform sized its position in Anthropic at $1.27 billion at the end of April, based on Anthropic's implied valuation at the time of $380 billion. Zoom's venture-capital arm first invested around $51 million in 2023.

Investors now expect the AI lab to command a $2 trillion valuation when it completes its IPO by October, the Financial Times reported earlier this month. Without any dilution or recent sales, that valuation would bring Zoom's stake to somewhere between $6 billion and $7 billion-about a fifth of its current market capitalization.

Analysts expect Zoom to post adjusted earnings of $1.48 a share on revenue of $1.27 billion for the second quarter. It reported $1.53 a share in adjusted earnings and $1.22 billion in revenue a year ago.

Zoom stock was down 2.1% to $102.61 on Tuesday. Shares have jumped 19% in 2026.

While Zoom's stake in Anthropic will likely be locked up for several months following the IPO, the company could signal a willingness to sell some of its shares in the coming years to fund buybacks, acquisitions, or product investment.

"Return of capital is a central part of our bull thesis," Matt Bullock, an analyst at BofA Securities, wrote in a research note last week. Bullock reiterated a Buy rating and a $130 price target on Zoom stock.

Zoom is well-positioned to repurchase shares. It has positive free cash flow, $7.8 billion in cash, and barely any debt. The company has bought back more than $3 billion worth of shares over the last nine quarters.

Investors have reacted accordingly. Shares now trade at 17 times projected earnings over the next 12 months, up from 14 times at the start of the year. That rising multiple may be tied to the Anthropic IPO, said Thomas Blakey, an analyst at Cantor. The firm has a Neutral rating and a $100 price target on Zoom stock.

Whether or not the Anthropic stake is already priced in, Zoom has made itself an intriguing way to play the upcoming IPO. Other public companies with stakes in the AI lab, such as Alphabet and Amazon.com, are much larger and less vulnerable to swings in investment income.

At the same time, Zoom's core business looks solid. Unlike other pandemic darlings, it has managed to keep growing both revenue and earnings since 2023.