Software CEOs such as Salesforce’s Marc Benioff have tried to reassure shareholders that proprietary data, decades of enterprise experience and in-house AI offerings would keep customers loyal, even ​as AI tools from the likes of Anthropic encroach on legal, marketing ​and customer-service work.

But that has not stemmed a selloff in the ⁠sector, with the software and services index down around 16% since the ​start of the year, widely underperforming the broader S&P 500’s 3.2% rise.

Wall Street expects Salesforce’s first-quarter revenue to have increased 12.5% to $9.83 billion, its fastest growth in ​13 quarters, according to analysts polled by LSEG.

But profit growth at the company, ​one of the most aggressive AI adopters with its Agentforce autonomous agent platform, will likely slow ‌to ⁠a near three-year low as costs rise.

Meanwhile, ServiceNow is expected to post slightly faster quarterly revenue growth of 21.1%, while Workday’s revenue will likely increase at a slightly slower pace at 12.4%.

“From a short-term stock market perspective, nothing (software) companies report this ​quarter or next ​quarter can really ⁠refute that long-term bear case,” said Joe Maginot, portfolio manager at Madison Investments.

“It’s this more existential question on how things ​will evolve over the coming three, four, five years and even ​longer.”

Experts ⁠expect software makers to use earnings to show more aggressively how AI is boosting revenue, how wide their adoption is and whether they are helping retain customers.

“The opportunity is ⁠there ​for many incumbents to be successful, especially as ​the rollout of AI in enterprise is going to take many years,” Bernstein analysts said.