Piper Sandler analyst Rob Owens cut his rating on DocuSign Inc.’s stock to underweight from neutral overnight, citing the potential for elevated risk given a leadership transition, employee turnover, and economic uncertainty. “All of these factors contribute to a challenging backdrop for potential revenue reacceleration in the near-term, in our view,” Owens wrote. “While we acknowledge an approximately 80% drop in shares from peak levels, we remain cautious and believe the primary upside driver would come only from a potential takeout.” He discussed what he sees as a discrepancy between DocuSign’s cautious commentary on the macro landscape and Adobe Systems Inc.’s more upbeat tone in discussing its own e-singature business. “[W]orsening macro data including home / auto lending, job openings, layoffs and contracting budgets across a wide range of industries does tell us that fewer deals are getting done,” Owens wrote. “Overall, commentary from ADBE combined with a rapidly deteriorating macro indicate to us that DOCU is likely facing both execution and market challenges, which add to the overall risk profile in our view.” DocuSign shares have lost 22.6% over the past three months as the S&P 500 has fallen 9.3%.
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