What happened
Shares of Alteryx (AYX) were falling again today on the second day of a broad sell-off in tech stocks. There was no specific news out on Alteryx but as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of data analytics, the stock got swept up in the slide as most cloud stocks were down sharply today.
Alteryx shares were down 5.4% as of 11:56 a.m. EDT after falling as much as 11% earlier in the session and losing 7.1% yesterday. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, was trading down 2.6% at the same time after crashing as much as 5% earlier in the morning.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Tech stocks have soared broadly this year with the Nasdaq up as much as 82% from its March nadir and a year-to-date gain of 35% before the recent pullback as much of the sector has benefited from tailwinds from the crisis.
The sell-off over the last two sessions hasn't come on any particular news. Rather, investors seem to believe that the sector has become overvalued after marching consistently higher for nearly six months.
Cloud stocks have also been big winners, but Alteryx's shares had already plunged after a disappointing earnings report in August, making the current sell-off more puzzling. Still, Alteryx's shares aren't cheap at a price-to-sales ratio of about 15, especially considering that the company expects revenue growth to be in the single digits in the second half of the year.
Now what
Some correction in cloud stocks seems deserved given that many popular names have already doubled or tripled this year, but Alteryx doesn't fit into that category. Though the company's performance will be challenged through the rest of the year as sales cycles have lengthened and customers have pulled back on new spending, the long-term future still looks bright. An extended pullback, therefore, could be a buying opportunity.
