The AI buzz saw
ZoomInfo is taking a nasty 32% tumble after slashing its full-year guidance, and the market is basically saying: “Yeah, that’s not what we wanted to hear.” The company is blaming AI disruption across software, which is a polite way of saying the competitive field is getting messier and your moat may be shrinking.
Why investors care
Guidance cuts are the corporate version of a flashing check-engine light. They don’t just tell you what happened last quarter — they hint at what could keep going wrong if the trend doesn’t improve.
For ZoomInfo, that means:
- Slower growth expectations for the rest of the year
- More pressure on the company’s sales and product strategy
- A reminder that AI isn’t just helping software companies; for some, it’s also coming for the lunch money
Bigger than one stock
This is the kind of move that makes investors rethink the whole “AI lifts all boats” narrative. Sometimes AI is the boat. Sometimes it’s the iceberg.
ZoomInfo now has to prove it can adapt fast enough to keep customers from drifting to newer, smarter tools. Big picture: the market is no longer paying for hope alone — especially when guidance starts heading south.