Freshworks price target lowered to $17 from $22 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on Freshworks to $17 from $22 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm “proactively” lowered growth estimates and price targets across the cloud applications and analytics group to better reflect rising macro risk factors and “elevated budget battles” that it believes could further pressure net new purchases and seat expansions into the second half of 2024. Slowing demand that surfaced during April, third-party data inputs that have remained sluggish since March, and anecdotal comments of “cost take-out” actions in the field make Piper more cautious at mid-year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, there are still pockets of strength, says the firm, which believes accelerating spend on artificial tailwinds should benefit Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL). Piper flags those two companies and Monday.com (MNDY) as its highest conviction ideas.