Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) shares moved higher in premarket trading, rising 4.3% on the news that Goldman Sachs has begun coverage with a Buy rating. The bank's assigned price target is $300, which it says represents 63% upside from the then-current trading level.
Goldman Sachs analyst Callie Valenti set the $300 target and highlighted what she described as Twilio's opportunity to capture increased developer activity. Valenti noted that agentic builders - developers building autonomous or semi-autonomous AI-driven applications - will continue to require communications infrastructure to reach end users, positioning Twilio to benefit.
Valenti also referenced company disclosures from Twilio's 2025 investor day. According to that disclosure, 50% of the Forbes 50 AI startups were paying Twilio customers as of September 30, 2024. Goldman Sachs sees this customer penetration as evidence of Twilio's relevance within a subset of AI startups.
The analyst pointed to recent growth metrics as further support for the initiation. Twilio's self-service business expanded 28% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, and Twilio's Voice business increased 20% year-over-year in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. These figures were cited by Goldman Sachs as tangible examples of the company's momentum in parts of its product portfolio.
Valenti summarized the stance behind the coverage: initiating with a Buy rating and a 12-month $300 target, seeing Twilio as well positioned to benefit from heightened developer activity tied to agentic builders, with growth visible in self-service and Voice. She said investors will focus on sustained gross profit growth acceleration and the durability of AI as a tailwind, the trajectory of gross margins, and how to underwrite positive risk/reward given extended valuation versus history.
The immediate market reaction was an uptick in Twilio's premarket trading. Goldman Sachs' coverage presents an institutional viewpoint emphasizing AI-related demand and recent quarter-over-quarter product growth as the primary drivers supporting the price target.
Context for market participants
- Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Twilio with a Buy rating and a $300 price target, implying 63% upside from the reference trading price.
- Company disclosure at its 2025 investor day showed that as of 9/30/24, half of the Forbes 50 AI startups were paying Twilio customers.
- Twilio reported 28% YoY growth in its self-service business in 4Q25 and 20% YoY growth in Voice in 1Q26, figures cited by the analyst in support of the outlook.
Investors and market watchers will likely weigh Goldman Sachs' bullish initiation against Twilio's current valuation and the sustainability of AI-driven demand, with attention on gross profit trends and margin trajectory as indicators of durable improvement.