Workday Lights the SaaS Fuse

 

The market climbed Thursday as softer producer inflation reinforced the risk-on mood and semiconductor strength carried the S&P 500 above 7,800 for the first time.  Workday’s reported Silver Lake talks transformed one potential buyout into a broad software re-rating, while SanDisk’s 2030 targets strengthened the case for sustained AI memory demand. Cisco and Cerebras tanked after their respective reports last night. Crude fell -2.5%.  Stocks traders chased UiPath’s software rebound and debated whether Applied Materials’ post-earnings drop reflected excessive expectations or a valuation finally meeting gravity.  Today's Briefing: Powered  Community API. After the Bell: Applied Materials beat and guided higher but slipped, while Workday’s buyout report ignited software stocks.  Stocks: SanDisk rallied after pairing mid-to-high-teens growth with 80% gross-margin targets.  What's Trending Now on Stocks

AFTER THE BELL Applied Beat, Market Shrugged  Applied Materials, the chip-factory equipment supplier, beat quarterly estimates Thursday and forecast stronger-than-expected results as AI spending lifted demand for memory and advanced manufacturing tools. Shares still fell after hours because a stock that had more than doubled this year needed more than another clean beat.  The RIP:  $AMAT ( ▼ 2.48% )  -4.2% after hours to $512. Adjusted EPS reached $3.50 vs. $3.39expected, while revenue increased 24.8% to $9.12Bvs. $8.99B. Semiconductor Systems revenue reached $7.04B, and adjusted gross margin was 50.4%.  Chip-equipment holders received a fourth-quarter midpoint of $10.25B in revenue and $4.02 adjusted EPS, both above expectations, plus management’s call for another strong growth year in 2027. @Huck18 identified the complication: even after the beat, Applied Materials still carried a richer earnings valuation than Nvidia, Alphabet, Lam Research, and KLA.  The Community Read: The $AMAT room is bullish after the beat, inspect the valuation fight -> “Market has $AMAT completely wrong here.. really good earnings but better yet, the guidance was phenomenal. Buying this dip 100%” @The_Titan_Traders, 3 likes Silver Lake Lit the SaaS Fuse  Silver Lake’s reported talks to acquire Workday ignited Thursday’s software rebound into a takeover treasure hunt. The HR and finance software provider logged its best day ever, while investors chased other discounted names carrying the same AI-disruption scars. Silver Lake partnered with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund to buy out EA for %55B last year.  The RIP:  $WDAY ( ▲ 17.78% )  +17.8%, $FIG ( ▲ 10.95% )  +10.9%, $PATH +9.3%, $TTD +7.9%, $ADBE +4.5%, and $CRM +4.2%. Workday closed at $206.45 after climbing as much as 30% intraday, with 15.4M shares traded at 4.1x recent pace.  Workday was the ignition, but the basket was the message. Silver Lake’s interest suggested private equity still sees durable value in subscription software even as investors debate whether AI agents will hollow out seat-based products.UiPath and Figma supplied the strongest read-through, while Adobe and Salesforce confirmed the move reached mature software platforms, not just smaller speculative names.  For software holders, the next test is whether Thursday started a lasting re-rating or merely inspired a one-day game of “guess the next buyout.” Workday’s Aug. 27 earnings remain the first operating checkpoint, and @Andu337 argued the preliminary talks and missing offer price left the spike vulnerable to profit-taking. Reuters reported the talks are ongoing, covering the past couple of months. Confirmation requires firm deal terms for Workday or improving growth and AI monetization across the broader group.  The Community Read: The $WDAY room is bullish, inspect the buyout math powering software ->

STOCKS SanDisk Targets The Moon

SanDisk, the NAND flash storage maker, used Thursday’s investor day to forecast durable AI-driven growth through fiscal 2030. Management paired mid-to-high-teens revenue growth with unusually rich margin and cash-return targets, sending shares sharply higher.

The RIP:  $SNDK ( ▲ 13.67% )  +13.7% to $1,528.11on 21.7M shares. Fiscal 2028 to 2030 targets include roughly 80% adjusted gross margin, 75% adjusted operating margin, 50% adjusted free-cash-flow margin, and 100% of excess cash returned after investment.

“Our confidence in the sustainability of the model comes from our multi-year NBMs that are based on intimate relationships with our customers and grounded in innovation and collaboration,” CFO Luis Visoso said in a statement reported by MarketWatch.

Memory investors care because eight multiyear customer agreements already cover about half of SanDisk’s fiscal 2027 output and two-thirds in fiscal 2028, challenging the idea that current pricing is purely cyclical. @randomaccount3 sees $1,700+after any profit-taking, but the measurable test is whether those contracts preserve roughly 80% gross margins as supply and pricing normalize.

The Community Read: The $SNDK room is bullish on 2030 targets, test the margin math ->

POPS & DROPS Trending Now

$TSSI -27% | TSS: The margin pivot could not hide one number

6.1K WATCHERS · 75% BULLISH · NORMAL ACTIVITY

TSS said quarterly revenue fell 20% to $35.1M as lower-margin procurement sales dropped 45%, overshadowing 46% growth in systems integration and a 12% adjusted EBITDA gain. The bullish room must decide whether the selloff mispriced a better business mix or exposed how much growth still depends on one major customer.

$VCX +21% | Fundrise Innovation Fund: The supply test starts Friday

6.9K WATCHERS · 65% BULLISH · NORMAL ACTIVITY

Fundrise Innovation Fund surged before previously restricted shares become eligible to trade Friday, one month earlier than originally planned. With the fund still trading above its underlying asset value, the community is split over whether exposure to SpaceX and Anthropic can absorb incoming supply without another premium reset.

$CADL +7% | Candel: Bulls circled one regulatory checkpoint

10K WATCHERS · 78% BULLISH · NORMAL ACTIVITY

Candel climbed without a fresh company release as traders returned to its planned fourth-quarter biologics license application for prostate cancer therapy CAN-2409. The next argument is whether manufacturing readiness has sufficiently reduced filing risk or whether partnership and buyout hopes are getting ahead of the FDA process.

WHAT’S ON DECK Tomorrow’s Top Things

Macro: Retail sales (8:30 AM ET), Business inventories (10:00 AM ET), University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (preliminary) (10:00 AM ET).  Pre-Market Earnings: $DVLT Datavault AI Inc., $OTLK Outlook Therapeutics Inc, $NRXP NRX Pharmaceuticals Inc, $PAVM PAVmed Inc, $DTST Data Storage Corp, +4 more.  After-Market Earnings: $SUNE SUNation Energy Inc, $CTXR Citius Pharmaceuticals Inc, $NUAI New Era Energy & Digital Inc., $NAKA Nakamoto Inc., $ASPI ASP Isotopes Inc, +6 more.