Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) has been upgraded by Jefferies analysts who see increased confidence in the company’s positioning within the emerging Voice AI technology stack and its potential to drive long-term growth.
The analysts upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ and upped their price target to $160 from $125, ipliying upside of about 22% at the time of writing.
The new valuation is based on Jefferies’ estimate of 21 times projected 2027 free cash flow.
The upgrade reflects a broader view that Voice AI, technology enabling automated, conversational voice interactions, is becoming increasingly essential for businesses scaling customer engagement. This technology combines cloud telephony, real-time media streaming, speech recognition, large language models, and text-to-speech capabilities.
Jefferies noted that Voice AI is “increasingly a must-have for scaling businesses.” The firm believes that Twilio is moving beyond its traditional role in the lower layers of the communications stack and positioning itself to capture more value through higher-level orchestration tools. Products such as ConversationRelay are designed to integrate multiple components of Voice AI into a unified offering, potentially increasing monetization per interaction.
According to Jefferies estimates, a three-minute Voice AI call could generate approximately $0.21 for Twilio, compared with about $0.03 for a traditional voice call. This represents more than a fourfold increase in revenue capture and could also lead to improved margins.
While Voice AI accounted for a negligible portion of Twilio’s call volume in 2025, Jefferies expects adoption to grow steadily as enterprises transition from pilot programs to full-scale deployment. The firm projects that Voice AI could represent around 6% of Twilio’s total voice call volume by 2028.
Under those assumptions, Jefferies forecasts Twilio’s voice revenue reaching approximately $1.15 billion by 2028, with about $383 million attributable to Voice AI. This would represent roughly a 5% increase in total revenue and contribute to a projected 6% uplift in gross profit dollars, along with modest margin expansion.
The firm also cited positive feedback from both partners and investors, noting that Voice AI providers view Twilio’s infrastructure as critical for delivering reliable real-time audio interactions.
“While monetization is concentrated at the AI layer, call enablement remains reliant on telephony infrastructure,” the analysts wrote.” While some debates remain, our investor conversations suggest growing confidence on ConversationRelay's ability to differentiate the platform and as a path for monetization.”
Despite shares declining about 5% year-to-date, Jefferies argues that improving fundamentals, expanding product capabilities, and the potential upside from Voice AI adoption justify a higher valuation multiple.