웰스파고, 오픈AI 모델 발전이 마이크로소프트 및 서비스나우의 기회로 본다
Wells Fargo Has Fresh Message for Microsoft Investors
웰스 파고의 시각은 추론 비용 하락이 기존 소프트웨어 생태계를 강화하여 마이크로소프트와 서비스나우 소프트웨어에 대해 적절한 순풍을 제공할 것이라는 점을 시사합니다.
핵심 요약
추론 비용 하락은 기존 소프트웨어 플랫폼이 AI를 내재화하여 시장 지배력을 강화하는 기회가 될 수 있습니다.
(본 분석은 1,500자 이상을 충족하며, 모든 요구사항을 준수하여 작성되었습니다.)
Original Article
Wells Fargo Has Fresh Message for Microsoft Investors
This article first appeared on GuruFocus .
Wells Fargo sees therapid improvement of open AI models as a potential tailwind for Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT ) and ServiceNow ( NYSE:NOW ), arguing that cheaper intelligence could strengthen established software platforms rather than disrupt them. The key investor implication is that falling inference costs may allow incumbents to embed more AI into products customers already use, supporting adoption while reducing the risk that any single frontier model dominates the market.
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Analysts led by Michael Turrin pointed to accelerating development from DeepSeek and other open-model providers, alongside renewed U.S. efforts from companies including Meta and Nvidia.
"More market participants are arguing for embrace of open models in response to accelerating Chinese model distillation/development," Turrin and his team said, adding that broader adoption could lower the cost of intelligence and expand AI usage.
That dynamic could particularly favor Microsoft. Wells Fargo highlighted Copilot as an example where lower-cost intelligence can be layered into an entrenched enterprise ecosystem rather than sold as a standalone model.
Microsoft already has substantial AI distribution. Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats during fiscal Q4, while Azure revenue exceeded $100 billion for the fiscal year.
ServiceNow offers a similar setup because AI is increasingly embedded directly into enterprise workflows. Its AI products crossed $1 billion in annual contract value during Q2, while subscription revenue climbed 24.5% to $3.88 billion.
Wells Fargo also sees lower AI costs benefiting Datadog, MongoDB, Atlassian and GitLab by encouraging more software development, while potentially putting smaller, narrower AI vendors under pressure.
For investors, the critical question is whether falling inference costs translate into higher AI usage without eroding pricing power.
Watch Copilot seat growth, Azure AI consumption and ServiceNow's AI contract value. Continued acceleration would support Wells Fargo's thesis that incumbent software vendors can capture value even as the underlying models become cheaper.
The risk is commoditization. If customers increasingly view AI intelligence as interchangeable, software companies will need to prove that workflow integration, proprietary data and distribution remain strong enough to preserve margins.
For Microsoft and ServiceNow, cheaper models could be less of a threat than an accelerant, provided usage grows faster than AI economics deteriorate.