The news wasn’t unfavorable overall. Zscaler‘s stock surged 8.5% on Friday subsequent to the security software provider surpassing expectations for the quarter and elevating its full-year forecast.

“We anticipate demand to persist robust as a growing number of corporations are preparing to implement our platform for enhanced cyber and data protection,” CEO Jay Chaudhry mentioned on the company’s earnings call.

The WisdomTree Cloud Computing Fund, an exchange-traded fund that follows cloud stocks, plummeted by 5% this week, the most significant decline since January. Paycom, GitLab, Confluent, Snowflake and ServiceNow all shed at minimum 10% of their value in the downturn.

Software creators MongoDB, SentinelOne, UiPath and Veeva all lowered their full-year revenue projections this week.

Salesforce shares tumbled almost 20% on Thursday, marking the most substantial decline since 2004, following the cloud software vendor reporting weaker-than-estimated earnings and giving disappointing guidance. CEO Marc Benioff indicated that Salesforce expanded rapidly in the Covid era as firms hurried to purchase products for remote work. Subsequently, customers needed to incorporate all the new technology and ultimately rationalize.

“Every enterprise software firm has somewhat adapted” post-pandemic, Benioff stated during his company’s earnings call. Companies that have reported recently are “all essentially conveying that same message in diverse manners.”

Salesforce, which sells PCs and data center hardware to enterprises, raised its full-year outlook on Thursday and reported that its backlog for AI servers had increased to $3.8 billion from $2.9 billion three months earlier. However, the expanding segment of these servers in the product mix, along with higher input costs, will lead to a 150 basis point decline in the company’s gross margin for the year.

UiPath, a provider of automation software, saw a decline in business momentum in late March and April, partly attributable to the economy, co-founder Daniel Dines informed analysts on Wednesday. Customers were also becoming more hesitant to commit to multi-year agreements, said Dines, who is assuming the position of CEO on June 1, succeeding former Google executive Rob Enslin.

Cybersecurity software vendor SentinelOne is witnessing a similar shift in trend.

Then there’s the influence of AI, which is prompting businesses to reorder their priorities.

Veeva CEO Peter Gassner referred to “disruption in large enterprises as they devise their strategies for AI.” Veeva, specializing in life sciences software, saw almost a 15% decrease in its value this week due to concerns about spending in the latter part of the year.

Gassner stated during the earnings call that generative AI is becoming “a competing priority” for the company’s clients.

Okta’s stock price dropped nearly 9% for the week. Analysts pointed to a weaker-than-anticipated subscription backlog. The company remarked that economic conditions are affecting the identity software provider’s ability to onboard new customers and encourage existing ones to increase purchases.

“Macroeconomic pressures persist,” Okta’s finance chief Brett Tighe mentioned during the company’s earnings call.

One gauge of inflation this week arrived slightly higher than forecasted. U.S central bankers are maintaining the benchmark interest rate, which stands at a 23-year peak.

Dell shares declined by 13% for the week after reaching new highs. The company was deemed to benefit from the generative AI trend as firms accelerated their hardware acquisitions. Expectations were “elevated,” Barclays analysts highlighted in a note on the outcomes.

Okta’s share price slid by almost 9% for the week. Analysts cited a subscription backlog weaker than expected. The company noted that economic conditions hamper the ability of the identity software provider to attract new customers and persuade existing ones to expand purchases.

“Macroeconomic challenges are still prevalent,” remarked Okta’s CFO Brett Tighe during the company’s earnings call.

“Buying patterns are unquestionably changing,” stated SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten, adding that “the evaluation of software by customers” is also evolving. The company’s stock price plunged by 22% for the week following guidance falling short of estimates.

—good’s Ari Levy contributed to this report.

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