Artificial intelligence and computers are all the rage in the stock market these days. With the rapid expansion of AI platforms, companies are racing to develop new and improved software that leverages the emerging technology.
And the best thing about many software stocks is that even though many of them are mature companies with secure management and an established business model, the market sees incredible potential for future growth.
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According to analysts surveyed by Yahoo! Finance, Oracle(NYSE: ORCL), Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT), Palantir Technologies(NASDAQ:PLTR)And Adobe(NASDAQ: ADBE) they seem like great buys now.
Image source: Getty Images.
Oracle has a broad portfolio: it generates revenue from cloud services, hardware and software. The company’s software division generated $5.87 billion in revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (ending November 30, 2025). That’s about 36% of the company’s $16.05 billion in revenue for the quarter. The stock has a consensus price target of $270, which represents an 82% upside from its price at the time of writing.
“Oracle is uniquely positioned to integrate AI into all three tiers of our software products: our Cloud Datacenter software, our Autonomous Database and Analytic software, and our Applications software. All three of these Oracle software businesses are already big – AI will make them all better and bigger,” CEO Mike Sicilia said recently.
Microsoft is a member of the “Magnificent Seven” stock group that has an outsized impact on the stock market due to its sheer size. It currently has a market capitalization of approximately $3 trillion, making it the fourth largest publicly traded company in the world.
The company’s office software is well-known, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Nearly 4 million businesses use Microsoft 365, giving the company enormous reach and a dedicated revenue stream to support its fast-growing Azure cloud computing division. Total revenue was $81.3 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (ending December 31, 2025), up 17% from a year ago.
Microsoft stock has a price target of $596, suggesting a potential upside of 49%.
Palantir Technologies is on this list because it has developed a range of software products that are in high demand. Palantir’s Gotham, Foundry and Apollo platforms work together with the Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which includes models in major languages, allowing users to input detailed prompts to generate insights and real-time analytics from hundreds of data sources across Palantir’s network.
Palantir’s software does everything from helping commercial clients with competitive analysis to supply chain management, market trends and inventory management. It also works with government agencies, including the military, intelligence agencies, Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service.
Fourth-quarter profit was $1.407 billion, up 70% from a year ago, while the company closed a total contract value of $4.26 billion in the quarter. Analysts have a consensus price target of $186 for Palantir stock, which means a potential upside of 38%.
Adobe is best known for its cloud software products, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Illustrator, which are used for media creation and marketing, as well as Acrobat, which is most often used to create PDFs.
The company also released Firefly, a generative AI model that allows users to create images, graphics, and text effects based on written prompts. Firefly is included in its Creative Cloud apps, such as Illustrator and Photoshop.
Shares are down more than 25% this year on fears that AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT will make Adobe’s media products obsolete. But the company’s revenue continues to rise, indicating that Adobe still has a lot to offer. Fourth quarter revenue was $6.19 billion, up 10% from a year ago.
Adobe stock has a price target of $408, which gives a potential upside of $58%.
Consider the following before buying shares in Oracle:
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Patrick Sanders holds positions at Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool holds positions in and recommends Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $330 calls at Adobe and short January 2028 $340 calls at Adobe. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
4 Software Stocks With 38% to 82% Upside Potential According to Wall Street, originally published by The Motley Fool
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