Weixin Lin
3 min read
A number of stocks fell in the morning session after reports of a ceasefire breach in the Middle East spiked market volatility as fears grew that a fragile U.S.-Iran truce would unravel.
This tension was compounded by Anthropic’s launch of Managed Agents, autonomous AI systems that execute complex tasks. Traders were worried these would disrupt the traditional SaaS (Software as a Service) model, by replacing human-operated tools with more efficient AI workers. The sell-off intensified after short seller Michael Burry claimed (in a deleted social media post) Anthropic was “eating Palantir’s lunch.” Burry’s comments highlighted the vulnerability of legacy platforms to Anthropic’s AI solutions.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
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Identity Management company Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) fell 7.7%. Is now the time to buy Okta? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
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Communications Platform company Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) fell 8.3%. Is now the time to buy Twilio? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
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Data Analytics company Samsara (NYSE:IOT) fell 7.6%. Is now the time to buy Samsara? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Twilio’s shares are very volatile and have had 21 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was about 23 hours ago when the stock gained 3.5% on the news that the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged in response to the de-escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Software stocks participated in the broad market rally as investors exited their defensive postures and returned to high-growth assets. The ceasefire lowered overall market volatility, creating a more stable backdrop for enterprise spending and corporate investment. The software sector benefits from the “risk-on” environment because lower geopolitical tension often leads to a more favorable valuation for growth-oriented companies. Furthermore, as the threat of energy-induced inflation fades, the macro pressure on interest rates, which often weighs on tech valuations, is reduced.
Twilio is down 12.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $121.36 per share, it is trading 15.8% below its 52-week high of $144.14 from December 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Twilio’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $329.57.
