Software stocks have been climbing in recent weeks, and one BofA Securities analyst thinks more gains are ahead for the beaten down sector.
Investors have become all too familiar with the fact that the software sector is under pressure as Wall Street worries about the impacts of artificial intelligence. As AI models become more advanced, fears that those models will eventually replace critical software functions escalate.
Some stocks have been more affected than others. Shares of creative software firm Adobe, for example, have dropped 23% this year while shares of enterprise software company ServiceNow have fallen 17%. Meanwhile, cybersecurity stocks Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike Holdings are up 96% and 71%, respectively, as Wall Street bets that the need for online security will grow as AI continues to evolve.
This sector's decline has been diagnosed by Wall Street as the "Saaspocalypse." But something's been happening under the radar in recent weeks-a rebound is taking place.
BofA Securities analyst Tal Liani has taken notice, and in turn raised the price targets of 10 software stocks on Wednesday.
Liani raised the price target on ServiceNow to $150 from $130, Figma to $33 from $30, Workday to $205 from $140, Adobe to $220 from $190, Amplitude to $14 from $12, GitLab to $45 from $38, Snowflake to $395 from $330, Box Inc. to $39 from $37, Zeta Global to $34 from $29, and Asana to $10.75 from $9.
These price target increases come as each of those stocks are up at least 41% from their 52-week closing lows. For example, Adobe stock has risen 41% since its 52-week closing low of $193.41 on June 25. ServiceNow has gained 52% since its 52-week low of $83 on April 10, and Figma is up 59% from its 52-week low of $16.84 on June 25.
"We attribute the recent strength to a combination of strong earnings and accelerated growth across select infrastructure software names and a re-rating from depressed valuations across large-cap and application software as AI-disruption concerns moderate and investor sentiment improves," Liani wrote in a note on Wednesday.
But just because Liani has higher price targets on these stocks doesn't mean he recommends buying them all. He continues to have an Underperform rating on Adobe as he believes AI makes content creation easier, increases competition from lower-cost and AI-native alternatives. He also says AI-first annual recurring revenue "remains less than 2% of total ARR and has yet to drive a visible growth inflection."
Software earnings are around the corner and will provide even more insight on where the sector stands. Wall Street will be looking for more proof that not only is there still demand for these companies in an AI world, but that these companies are monetizing off their own AI offerings.
The outcome of those results will determine if this software rebound has legs.
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