SaaS and AI‑adjacent software names were back in the crosshairs Thursday, with Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM), Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE:NET), Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) and ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) all trading sharply lower as investors bailed out of high‑multiple cloud plays.
- CRM stock is moving. See the chart and price action here.
SaaSpocalypse Now
The move followed fresh model releases from Anthropic and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) that reignited fears large‑language‑model agents will displace traditional enterprise software workflows.
Thursday's moves extended a sell‑off that has already erased hundreds of billions in software market cap this year.
Salesforce, a bellwether for enterprise SaaS, slumped again as traders leaned into the idea that AI copilots and horizontal agents could compress growth and pricing power across CRM and adjacent categories.
Cloudflare and Snowflake, two of the most richly valued infrastructure and data names, traded as high‑beta proxies for AI‑software sentiment, with both names sliding as funds cut exposure to premium multiples most vulnerable to another leg lower in the "SaaSpocalypse."
Zscaler and ServiceNow, which had already been hit hard in prior sessions, extended their declines, reflecting systematic de-risking in the broader software sector.
Microsoft also remained under pressure as investors questioned whether surging AI capex can continue to translate into accelerating Azure and software growth in the face of intense competition.
There Are Still Some Bulls…
Not everyone on Wall Street is buying the AI disruption narrative.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives doubled down on a contrarian view, calling the software carnage "overdone" and arguing the market is mispricing how AI will actually flow through to the P&L of incumbents like Microsoft, Salesforce and ServiceNow.
After weeks of CIO checks, Ives says AI projects are moving from experimentation to real deployment, with 2026 shaping up as a major rollout year that should ultimately expand, not shrink, enterprise software budgets.
He maintained that switching costs, data lock‑in and mission‑critical integration give platforms such as Salesforce and ServiceNow durable moats.
In fact, Ives has re‑added CRM and NOW to his top AI ideas list, framing the current software panic as a "generational buy" setup rather than the start of a terminal decline.
Photo: Norbert Maurice / Shutterstock
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