Sam Badawi
Stock Analyst, Creator of Origins of Alpha & Quarterly Conviction
Atlassian won't grow beyond inflation because nearly everyone already owns its product, so its rally is simply the market bidding up software as money rotates out of semiconductors. @sv_techie notes 28% growth last quarter and 26% for fiscal 2026, but guidance of 19.7% for the next quarter and about 13% for fiscal 2027. x.comÂ
Atlassian is hard to buy despite strong contracted demand, because insiders have sold so heavily. Remaining performance obligations, contracted revenue not yet recognized and a precursor to reported revenue, accelerated sharply in Q2 2026. Even so, it does not look like the best opportunity in the market. x.com x.comÂ
Okta, Salesforce and Atlassian look insanely expensive at nine times forward revenue against roughly 10% year-over-year growth. Many SaaS firms also have high sales and marketing costs. A commenter flags inference spending, which SaaS investors worry could compress margins; if free cash flow, growth, retention or gross margins weaken, their price-to-sales multiples could collapse. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Software's relative strength and sound finances make institutional rotation from semis plausible. It could lead while semis consolidate, despite slow growth at some firms; the market rewards cash flow, healthy balance sheets and manageable debt. Salesforce, ServiceNow, Palantir, Shopify and Workday hold up; SAP's cloud and AI shift, Instacart's massive 10-month base, Veeva's massive five-year base and Atlassian's Stage 2 strength add to the case. Semis may still rally; the view can change. x.com … Show more
Atlassian is not a buy even after an ~80% drawdown since January 2025 to an $18b market cap. Its products aren't that great, and it lacks the customer lock-in that Salesforce enjoys. x.comÂ
Atlassian's rally is hard to justify as growth heads to the teens. Revenue grew 28% last quarter and 26% for FY26, but Q1 FY27 is guided to 19.7% and full FY27 implies about 13%. With EV/sales still in single digits, the stock is probably at fair value for high-teens growth. In some places git is replacing Jira, which is ancient technology. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Atlassian's drawdown has drawn shorts piling in at what looks like a bottom, a consistent market pattern, and they risk being trapped in false narratives as the stock recovers. x.comÂ
Software is flexing its muscles, showing AI is not killing the sector. Twilio, Atlassian, Cloudflare and JFrog all showed better-than-expected fundamental strength, setting software up for a strong session. x.com x.comÂ
Atlassian is not run for shareholders, because its stock-based compensation is as large as its free cash flow, leaving owner earnings at zero. That holds even if, as a reply argues, Jira and Confluence have strong moats and AI worries have unfairly hit the stock. x.comÂ
Atlassian has broken out of a year-long downtrend on cloud and AI growth, with Q3 results up 29%, a Leader rating in Gartner's 2026 DevSecOps Magic Quadrant and Wall Street lifting targets. It is retesting the top of its descending channel as support, and heavy volume shows real accumulation. A move above $96.50 targets $119.38, then $139.70 and $157.29. x.comÂ
Atlassian is far less cash-rich than it looks once stock-based compensation is treated as a real cost. About $1.3 billion of operating cash flow and only $50 million of capex look strong, but roughly $1.5 billion of SBC is the real spend, $165 million more than operating cash flow. Paying employees in stock flatters cash flow while diluting shareholders, and buybacks only partially offset SBC rather than reducing the share count. x.com x.comÂ
