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This overpriced tech giant is threatened by AI

Billions of dollars of stock-based compensation could hit free cash flow in the near future
This overpriced tech giant is threatened by AIPublished on June 13, 2024

If you work for a large corporation you will likely have come across the HR software company Workday (US:WDAY). When you started your job you were probably directed to the platform to sign your contract, do your compliance training and enter your national insurance number. You will now occasionally sign on, either to print out a P60 to send to an accountant or to book some time off.

Tip style
Sell
Risk rating
High
Timescale
Medium Term
Bull points
  • Widely used by the world’s biggest companies
  • Strong track record 
  • Ploughing money into product development
Bear points
  • Slowing sales growth
  • AI could increase competition in the software industry
  • Share-based payments are weighing on profits
  • Highly valued

For most employees, this software probably seems unremarkable. But for human resources (HR) teams, it is revolutionary. Once, all of this work would have had to be done on paper. The arrival of on-premise computer programs eased the burden, but all the data had to be stored on company-maintained servers. Now, there is software-as-a-service Workday which is hosted on external clouds.

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