Why This Analyst Has Lost Faith in These Top Software Stocks

Investors felt the renewed pessimism of a bear market as the broad markets continued their sell-off early on Monday. With these concerns reignited, analysts are adjusting their coverage, and one major Wall Street firm is backing off a couple of top names in tech.

Generally speaking, in recessions and bear markets, tech stocks are some of the hardest hit during the downturn. As such, analysts cut their targets across this sector when there might even be a whiff of a correction. Accordingly, RBC Capital is targeting a specific industry within the tech sector where it sees even more downside.

The brokerage house issued calls in the tech sector where it sees a couple of software firms falling off in the near term. Rishi Jaluria was the lead analyst on these calls, and he noted in the report that he is “cautiously optimistic” on off-cycle software sector earnings but says the impact of a weaker macro environment is likely to be evident.

It is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Coupa Software

RBC downgraded Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP) to Underperform from Sector Perform. It also cut the $65 price target to $55, implying downside of 21% from the most recent closing price of $70.00. Jaluria said in the report that Coupa looks “disproportionately recession-prone” compared to peers and its execution issues are likely to weigh on near-term results.

Shares of Coupa Software recently traded near $64, in a 52-week range of $50.54 to $270.79. The stock is down about 57% year to date.

DocuSign

RBC Capital’s Outperform rating on DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) was cut to Sector Perform, and the $80 price target was lowered to $65. That implies downside of 7% from the most recent closing price of $69.75. Jaluria noted that DocuSign’s short-term outlook appears “challenging,” particularly as the company looks for a new chief executive officer.

DocuSign stock was last seen trading near $63, in a 52-week range of $55.86 to $314.70. Shares are actually down 57% year to date.

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