Markets are in the middle of an emotional tug-of-war over artificial intelligence. On one side is excitement about productivity gains and new revenue streams; on the other is fear that AI will commoditize software, consulting, and enterprise platforms. That fear has hit several high-quality companies hard, with shares of Microsoft, Accenture, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Adobe down between roughly 23% and 32% year-to-date. The concerns about AI disruption are real—but they are also overdone, creating a compelling long-term opportunity in some of the most profitable businesses in tech.
The Top 10’s YTD: A Tale of Energy Strength, Mega-Cap Fatigue, and Software Reset
Year-to-date performance across the S&P 100 continues to highlight a powerful market rotation—one driven less by broad bullish or bearish sentiment and more by shifting narratives, earnings durability, and valuation resets. Let’s take a look at year-to-date performance for energy, mega-caps and software—highlighting a select group of extreme performers—with lots of volatile big risks and increasingly tempting opportunities.
Top SaaS Stock: Crushed Yet Boosted By AI
Shares of this mega-cap software stock have been hammered in recent months, down more than 50% amid broader SaaS-sector fears (that generative AI could commoditize or replace traditional workflow software). However, beneath the surface, the company is thriving (particularly in AI), and the steep share price decline has created a rare entry point for long-term investors.
Software Stocks Are Cheap: Is AI Eating Software?
Briefly sharing some updated data on the absolute blood bath in software stocks as the market believes AI (such as Anthropic’s release of the legal plugin for its large language model Claude) will devour traditional software. Names like Microsoft (MSFT), ServiceNow (NOW) and Adobe (ADBE) are down big—yet still very profitable and growing. Will have more to say soon about specific names, but here is a look at 40+ top software stock ratings from Morningstar (moat ratings, BIG price upside potential and more). In a few years, you may look back and wish you bought more. Enjoy the data!
Software Application Stocks: Oversold
As the AI megatrend continues to grow, one of the lesser-noticed side effects within the technology sector has been the flow of dollars out of otherwise attractive software companies and into AI stocks. As a result, a lot of really attractive software stocks (those with high growth and high profits) are actually significantly underperforming the market and trading at increasingly attractive valuations.
ServiceNow: Shares Down, Megatrend Upside Big
If you are looking for disruptive companies with sticky high revenue growth that have also just sold off hard as part of this year’s economic fears, consider ServiceNow (down 27% ytd). It’s a leader in cloud-based workflow automation solutions, benefiting dramatically from the ongoing digital revolution and AI megatrends. This report reviews ServiceNow’s business, market position, growth prospects, valuation and risks, and then concludes with my strong opinion on investing.
Quick Note: ServiceNow Earnings Update
Software Application Stocks: Interest Rates, Market Rotation and 3 Attractive Opportunities
So the latest reports of cooling inflation triggered some market rotation this week, and there could be more to come. One group that may be particularly well-positioned for gains is select software application stocks. For example, the group has been underperforming the market, but the fundamentals have remained strong. In this report, we briefly review changing interest rate expectations, sector rotation, and 3 top software application stocks, especially as the AI boom proliferates beyond just phase one hardware/semiconductors).
ServiceNow Earnings Note: Great Business, But What About the Valuation?
AI Will Supercharge This Attractive High-Growth SaaS Stock
The SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business we review in this report was already benefiting dramatically from its leadership position in the massive digital revolution megatrend (which, by the way, is still in its early innings). However, by the very nature of the business (the company has immense well-organized data), Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) technologies will supercharge the value it brings to clients and the growth rate of its profits. In this report, we briefly review the business, its growth and valuation, and then conclude with our strong opinion on investing.
Top 20 S&P 500 Stocks: YTD and Last 10 Years
Top Growth Stocks - Still Hated
In this quick note, we share updated data on top growth stocks (those with at least 20% revenue growth expectations for this year and next). You’ll notice the names with positive net margins have performed relatively better over the last year (quite the opposite of when the pandemic bubble had full momentum behind it and revenue growth was all that seemed to matter). The table also shows recent performance, short interest, margins, various valuation metrics and more. It’s hard to take a contrarian view, but that’s often a profitable approach for selective long-term investors at lower points in the market cycle (i.e. right now).
ServiceNow (NOW) Earnings Note
Business remains strong for this profitable SaaS company despite slowing economic growth. Shares jumped 13% on Thursday following earnings. Revenue grew at an impressive 21.2% y/y, and subscription revenue grew at 28.5%. The magic of this company is two-fold: (1) customers love the solution (98% renewal), and (2) land and expand. Long.
SaaS Business: Powerful Growth, Compelling Price
Better. Faster. Smarter. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that we review in this article helps organizations digitize and unify their workflows. That may sound like a lot of hot air, but it’s not. This is a real deal profitable business that is growing rapidly, has an extremely high customer retention rate and a massive long-term total addressable market opportunity (so it can keep growing rapidly). The company does not pay a dividend, but the shares have gotten relatively inexpensive during the recent “tech wreck,” and 5 years from now many people will wish they bought shares. We are long this stock, and it currently presents a compelling buying opportunity.
Powerful Upside: This “Income via Growth” Stock Is on Sale
From time-to-time, we like to write about “income via growth” stocks at Blue Harbinger. These are stocks that can provide high income to investors through long-term capital gains (i.e. selling some of your winners). We write about these types of stocks because they can bring important risk-reducing diversification to an otherwise dividend-focused investment portfolio. And we are writing about this particular opportunity because we own it, and because it is particularly attractive right now following the recent market turbulence.
Buy Low: Top 5 Growth Stocks, On Sale
In 5 years, you’ll probably wish you bought a few shares of these attractive growth stocks. Granted, many of our readers are focused on dividend stocks; however, we believe in the importance of diversifying some of your investment dollars across a variety of investment styles, particularly when they present attractive opportunities. All of the stocks on our list have enormous long-term price appreciation potential. We’re not suggesting anyone bet the farm on growth stocks, but adding a few attractive ones to your portfolio is worth considering. Without further ado, here is the list…