TLDR
- Zeta Global (ZETA) surged 11.63% on Monday, closing at $19.19, after CEO David Steinberg confirmed a deal with OpenAI to run its advertising operations.
- The stock gained another 3.4% in premarket Tuesday, trading at $19.85, extending a three-day winning streak.
- Q1 2026 revenue came in at $396 million, up 50% year over year, with full-year guidance raised to a midpoint of $1.785 billion.
- Bank of America reinstated coverage with a Buy rating and a $24 price target on Tuesday.
- Zeta also joined Snowflake’s Open Semantic Interchange (OSI), an open-source initiative to standardize data definitions for AI and analytics tools.
Zeta Global (ZETA) has had a busy few days. The stock surged 11.63% on Monday to close at $19.19, then added another 3.4% in premarket trading Tuesday, pushing to $19.85. Over 17 million shares changed hands during Monday’s session alone.
Zeta Global Holdings Corp., ZETA
The catalyst was a confirmed deal with OpenAI. At the JPMorgan Annual Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference, CEO David Steinberg told attendees that Zeta had “executed an agreement” with OpenAI and would “run their advertising.”
It’s the latest step in a relationship between the two companies. Back in January, Zeta announced that its AI marketing agent, Athena, would use OpenAI models to power conversational and agentic features for enterprise marketers.
At the time, OpenAI Chief Commercial Officer Giancarlo “GC” Lionetti said Zeta was showing “AI can go beyond insight and into action.” The new advertising deal takes that partnership into fresh territory.
Athena is currently in early beta, with the first two apps — Insights and Advisor — now available to enterprise clients. Steinberg described Athena as an example of AI moving “from the edges of marketing to the center.”
Strong Earnings Adding Fuel
The OpenAI headline landed on top of an already solid earnings backdrop. Zeta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $396 million, a 50% jump from the same period last year.
Management also raised its full-year 2026 revenue target to a midpoint of $1.785 billion and increased its adjusted EBITDA guidance. CFO Chris Greiner called out 19 consecutive beat-and-raise quarters.
Several analysts issued bullish updates over the weekend following those results, helping drive additional attention from growth-focused investors heading into Monday’s session.
Bank of America added its voice Tuesday morning, reinstating coverage with a Buy rating and a $24 price target, according to TheFly. That gave the stock another early lift in premarket trading.
Year-to-date, ZETA is still down roughly 15.5%, meaning the stock has room to recover even after the recent run-up.
New Data Partnership With Snowflake
Separately, Zeta last week said it would join the Open Semantic Interchange, a Snowflake-led open-source project aimed at standardizing how companies define and share business data for use in AI and analytics tools.
Zeta CTO Christian Monberg said: “AI is only as effective as the data it can trust.” The move reinforces Zeta’s positioning around data infrastructure as a foundation for its AI products.
The company operates in a competitive field that includes Salesforce, Adobe, and The Trade Desk, all of which are actively building out their own AI capabilities.
KeyBanc analyst Jackson Ader noted in January that Zeta’s OpenAI relationship could provide an edge in a market “where many companies are offering similar AI capabilities.”
As of Tuesday premarket, ZETA was trading at $19.85, up from Monday’s closing price of $19.19.
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