Guggenheim upgrades Salesforce, ServiceNow; says AI not 'death knell'

Datadog

Yesterday 15:40

** Guggenheim upgrades Salesforce CRM.N and ServiceNow NOW.N to "buy" from "neutral, with price targets of $228 and $125, respectively
** CRM shares rise 5% in morning trading, while NOW up 4.6%
** Guggenheim says rating upgrade does not reflect view that companies are AI beneficiaries, noting that AI poses significant risks to both
     ** However, it says AI is unlikely to prove "death knell" for the companies
** For ServiceNow, current levels present attractive opportunity for investors to purchase a comfortably profitable stock, brokerage says
** Adds that "Armageddon" scenario currently priced into CRM's stock is misaligned with reality
** Other software stocks up: AppLovin APP.O rise 8.8%, Workday WDAY.O up 5.3%, while Datadog DDOG.O and Autodesk ADSK.O each up 4%
** S&P 500 software index .SPLRCIS rise 2.2%
** YTD, NOW down ~33%, CRM slipped ~38%, while software index lost 20.2%

 (Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru)
 ((joeljose@thomsonreuters.com))