Microsoft, Oracle among software stocks in Jefferies' wide price-target cuts
lcva2/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Analysts at Jefferies led by Brent Thill took an axe to the software sector, Monday, and cut the share-price targets of more than two dozen companies, including Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and VMware (NYSE:VMW).
In a research note, Thill said that the moves were being made to factors related to "stiffening economic headwinds and the risk of recession looming" over the economy. Other issues listed included companies with "high exposure" to European matters, deferred orders and those with a large presence among small-and-medium-sized businesses.
Among the companies Jefferies assessed was Microsoft (MSFT), which was taken down to an estimate of $325 a share from $400. Thill said that Microsoft (MSFT) is in position to gain from more growth from the PC sector, but could see challenges if its transition to the cloud takes longer than anticipated and begins to weigh on its margins.
Oracle (ORCL) had its target cut to $75 a share from $80. Thill said that while the business-software giant can grow as its moves most of its installed customers to software-as-a-service [Saas] platforms, it will face challenges catching up to Microsoft's (MSFT) Azure offering and Amazon Web Services (AMZN).
The Jefferies analyst cut VMWare's (VMW) price target to $105 a share from $125, saying it is making solid moves to bring customers to the cloud over time, but it could face challenges with new licensing models.
The other software stocks that came under Jefferies knife were:
Splunk (SPLK), down to $125 a share from $160.
Atlassian (TEAM), cut to $180 a share from $275.
Adobe (ADBE), down to $550 a share from $570.
Snowflake (SNOW), down to $150 a share from $230.
Datadog (DDOG), which was cut to $125 a share from $170.
Elastic (ESTC), lowered to $60 a share from $90.
Sumo Logic (SUMO) cut to $8.50 a share from $12.
Cloudflare (NET), cut to $55 a share from $75.
Smartsheet (SMAR), down to $50 a share from $75.
Asana (ASAN), down to $23 a share from $40.
ProCore Technologies (PCOR), cut to $75 a share from $90.
CS Disco (LAW), down to $35 a share from $40.
Freshworks (FRSH), trimmed to $17 a share from $18.
Upland Software (UPLD), cut to $14 a share from $17.
Dropbox (DBX), which was cut to $30 a share from $35.
Microstrategy (MSFT), lowered to $215 a share from $225.
Salesforce (CRM), cut to $260 a share from $330.
Crowdstrike (CRWD), cut to $200 a share from $275.
Varonis (VRNS), which was lowered to $40 a share from $60
Check Point Software (CHKP), down to $130 a share from $145.
SentinelOne (S), cut to $25 a share from $40.
IronNet (IRNT), which was trimmed to a target of $2.75 a share from $3.25.
VMware (VMW) shares surged by more than 21%, Monday, amid reports that it may soon be acquired by Broadcom (AVGO).