Goldman Sachs Says the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software Sell-Off Was Overdone. Here Are the Best Growth Stocks to Buy Now.

Goldman Sachs argues the software sell-off was too broad, highlighting Figma and Atlassian as rebound candidates as both show strong AI adoption and double-digit sales growth. Figma reported 2025 sales up 41% to $1.1 billion and guided to $1.4 billion for 2026, while Atlassian posted Q3 FY2026 revenue of $1.8 billion, up 32% year over year, with AI credit usage rising 20% month over month. The article frames both stocks as undervalued after sharp share-price declines, though it remains largely opinion-driven rather than a direct catalyst.

Analysis

The market is pricing AI as an existential substitute for SaaS labor, but the more likely near-term outcome is pricing-power displacement: AI gets embedded as a premium feature, not a wholesale replacement. That matters because both FIG and TEAM have moved from pure seat monetization toward hybrid consumption revenue, which creates a second monetization layer precisely when investors assumed the model would be compressed. The second-order effect is that AI can expand gross revenue per workflow even if seat growth slows, muting the bear case that software demand simply migrates to foundation-model vendors.

The broader setup is a sentiment-driven de-rating rather than a fundamentals-driven deterioration, which tends to reverse fastest when usage data keeps inflecting. For FIG and TEAM, that inflection is important because AI attach rates are still early, so the incremental revenue contribution can accelerate over the next 2-4 quarters without needing a major re-acceleration in core product adoption. If that happens, the market will have to re-rate them not just on growth durability but on optionality embedded in AI credits, which is currently underwritten as zero by many investors.

The main risk is not that AI destroys these businesses immediately; it is that margin structure gets noisier before revenue contribution is obvious. Credit-based monetization can look lumpy, and any slowdown in enterprise budgets would give skeptics a chance to reassert the 'AI cannibalization' narrative for another quarter or two. Still, the contradiction in the article is the key signal: usage is rising while the stocks are still priced as if the demand curve were broken.

From a positioning standpoint, this looks like a buy-the-dislocation event with asymmetric upside over 6-12 months, especially if multiples revert even halfway toward pre-selloff levels. The cleaner trade is to own the highest-quality AI-wrapped software compounders rather than broader SaaS beta, because the winners will be the names that can monetize AI inside existing workflows before customers fully benchmark alternatives.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Go long FIG on weakness with a 3-6 month horizon; target a re-rating as AI credits start contributing meaningfully to revenue mix, with downside limited if core subscription growth remains above 30%.
• Go long TEAM for a 6-9 month hold; the risk/reward is favorable because the market is still discounting seat replacement, while usage data suggests the platform is becoming more embedded, not less.
• Pair trade: long FIG / short a basket of lower-quality SaaS names with weak net retention and no AI monetization path; this isolates the valuation reset in the winners vs. losers dynamic.
• Use call spreads rather than outright equity if volatility stays elevated: buy 6-12 month FIG or TEAM call spreads to capture multiple expansion while capping drawdown if the AI narrative pauses.
• Add only on post-earnings volatility if AI credit usage and seat expansion remain intact; if either slows for a full quarter, reduce exposure because the market will likely punish any evidence of consumption fatigue.