BUZZ - GoDaddy shares decline as RBC downgrades rating due to concerns over disruptive impact of artificial intelligence

October 12 - ** The share price of internet service provider GoDaddy (GDDY.N) fell 1.29% to $103 in pre-market trading after RBC Capital Markets downgraded its rating from “outperform” to “sector perform,” citing the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence.

** The brokerage stated that although GoDaddy’s Airo platform and new API are gaining market recognition, AI agents and programmatic code platforms may divert customer purchasing behavior away from GoDaddy’s traditional “domain-to-hosting” conversion path.

** “As agents are able to search, compare, and place orders across vendors within seconds, this asymmetry is narrowing. We believe that as agent-led business models make the wholesale economic model more transparent to a broader group of buyers, the company’s current margin structure may face headwinds,” RBC added.

** The brokerage set a target price at $95, representing about 9% downside from the most recent closing price of $104.35.

** Of 19 brokerages covering the stock, 8 rate it “buy” or higher, 10 “hold,” and 1 “sell” or lower; the median target price is $100 — according to data compiled by Reuters (LSEG).

** As of the previous trading day’s close, the stock had fallen 15.9% year to date.

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