What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after a sharp jump in benchmark Treasury yields and surging crude oil prices stoked renewed concerns over inflation. Global bond yields climbed as elevated oil prices fueled concern that the Federal Reserve may need to lift rates, Bloomberg reported. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield moved to a 20-month high near 4.79% after U.S.-Iran strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, according to CNBC. Because many SaaS valuations rest on cash flows expected far in the future, a higher long-end yield lifts the discount rate on those earnings; the oil spike reinforces the case that borrowing costs may stay elevated for longer.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Endpoint Security company Varonis Systems (NASDAQ: VRNS) fell 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Varonis Systems? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Vulnerability Management company Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy Qualys? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Tax Software company BlackLine (NASDAQ: BL) fell 3.7%. Is now the time to buy BlackLine? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Compliance Software company Workiva (NYSE: WK) fell 4%. Is now the time to buy Workiva? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Workiva (WK)
Workiva’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 5 days ago when the stock gained 4.5% on the news that quarterly earnings and upbeat corporate commentary signaled that artificial intelligence is driving growth across enterprise software rather than threatening legacy business models. Shares across the enterprise software and software-as-a-service (SaaS) space advanced significantly following stronger-than-expected quarterly results from major technology firms. The sector-wide surge eased long-standing investor fears that artificial intelligence could disrupt traditional software platforms. Instead, quarterly reports and executive remarks highlighted that generative AI is acting as a catalyst for software adoption, allowing enterprise platforms to expand product capabilities and drive tangible monetization.
This dynamic was vividly illustrated by recent results from Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and Okta. At Salesforce, AI-powered Agentforce and Slack offerings saw rapid growth, with Agentforce annual recurring revenue (ARR) reaching $1.5 billion.
Furthermore, Slackbot, the company's AI assistant, became the fastest-adopted AI product in company history, surpassing 1 million active users just five months after launch.
In the cybersecurity space, AI is simultaneously creating new threat vectors and driving urgent defense spending. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz attributed recent momentum to “the world’s adoption of AI rapidly expanding the attack surface,” which has intensified the need for advanced security solutions and driven increased uptake of AI security modules.
Similarly, Okta reported that its new AI-focused identity offerings drove approximately 30% of new bookings during the quarter and increased average contract values by roughly 40% when included in deals.
The broader rally, highlighted by a 20% surge in Salesforce, underscores growing market confidence that established enterprise software vendors are well-positioned to capture massive economic value from the ongoing deployment of AI technologies.
Workiva is down 7.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $76.92 per share, it is trading 17.6% below its 52-week high of $93.31 from November 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Workiva’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $538.47.
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