Salesforce, Unity see their stocks fall after Piper Sandler abandons bullish stance

Shares of Salesforce Inc.
CRM,
-0.36%
and Unity Software Inc.
U,
-1.83%
were falling Monday after Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin downgraded the stocks to neutral from overweight. His downgrade of Salesforce comes as he sees growing risk around execution and mergers, “AI monetization uncertainty,” and a more balanced risk-reward profile following a 50%-plus rise in the shares so far this year. Salesforce shares were off 1.6% in morning activity Monday. Bracelin also moved to a neutral stance on Unity, whose shares were off 2.5% early Monday, citing “potential downside risks to 2024 ad growth after the pricing spat with game developers.” He downgraded shares of Asana Inc.
ASAN,
+0.71%
and Alteryx Inc.
AYX,
-6.95%
to underweight from neutral, while lowering his rating on Matterport Inc.
MTTR,
-4.50%
to neutral from overweight. “Despite taking a more cautious [software] stance into year-end on this mismatch on 2024 expectations,” his highest-conviction picks are Microsoft Corp.
MSFT,
+1.46%
among large-capitalization names and Procore Technologies Inc.
PCOR,
+0.54%
among small caps.