瑞穗前瞻软件行业 Q3 财报季：云服务与 AI 需求强劲 有望交出超预期 “答卷”
Mizuho's industry research report shows that the U.S. software industry is expected to achieve better-than-expected growth in the third quarter, mainly benefiting from strong demand for cloud services and artificial intelligence. The analyst team expects resilience in the Software as a Service (SaaS) sector and good demand for cybersecurity. Mizuho has raised target prices for companies such as Microsoft, Datadog, Palo Alto Networks, and CyberArk, and expects Atlassian to deliver solid performance. Overall revenue is expected to grow approximately 3% quarter-over-quarter and 18% year-over-year
According to the Zhitong Finance APP, as the earnings season approaches, the industry research report from Wall Street financial giant Mizuho indicates that the overall U.S. software industry is expected to achieve better-than-expected growth in the third quarter.
"We are very confident in the overall research results for the third quarter," stated the Mizuho analyst team led by Gregg Moskowitz in a detailed investor report. "The performance of public cloud/consumer data is quite impressive, and the adoption rate of artificial intelligence applications remains strong. The demand for cybersecurity is positive, although some reports indicate delays in transactions. Finally, the Software as a Service (SaaS) sector shows resilience, and performance in one or two sub-sectors seems to have improved."
As the earnings season arrives, Mizuho identifies the strongest-performing software companies, all of which have received an "outperform" rating:
- Microsoft (MSFT.US): Target price raised from $625 to $640;
- Datadog (DDOG.US): Target price raised from $155 to $170;
- Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US): Target price raised from $210 to $220;
- CyberArk (CYBR.US): Currently in the process of being acquired by Palo Alto, target price raised from $500 to $520.
Additionally, Mizuho expects Atlassian (TEAM.US) to deliver solid performance, with a current target price of $235, also receiving an "outperform" rating.
Moskowitz noted, "Our expectation for the industry's third-quarter revenue is a quarter-over-quarter median growth of about 3% and a year-over-year growth of 18%. Compared to the strong quarter-over-quarter growth rates of the past two third quarters, this is only about 3 percentage points lower. In terms of exchange rates, the dollar depreciated by 3 basis points against the euro and 1 basis point against the pound quarter-over-quarter, although most of the exchange rate changes occurred before management provided performance guidance. Therefore, we expect the exchange rates will only bring a slight additional tailwind effect in the third quarter. Overall, we expect the average industry revenue will likely exceed our latest expectations."
He added, "Our research results for Atlassian this quarter have improved, including a slight improvement in its cloud migration activities. We are optimistic that the company can deliver good performance in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (F1Q). Our research results for Microsoft Azure are very positive, and we expect Azure's year-over-year growth rate (at constant exchange rates) to exceed the approximately 37% guidance provided by the company."
