Workday stock gains as Silver Lake buyout talks and AI growth fuel momentum

Published on 09/20/2026 at 18:40 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS

Workday stock has risen sharply in mid-September 2026 amid reports of advancing Silver Lake financing for a potential buyout on September 17, 2026. At the same time, Workday’s AI subscription revenue has grown more than 20% quarter over quarter to nearly USD 600 million.

WDAY, US98980G1022, Illustration mit AI erstellt.

Workday Inc. (ISIN US98980G1022) stock has moved higher in recent sessions, with reports on September 17, 2026 that financing for a potential private equity buyout by Silver Lake is making concrete progress helping to lift the shares by about 7 percent on that trading day. According to Choicestock on September 17, 2026, the ongoing funding efforts for a significant equity stake have increased the perceived likelihood that a transaction will eventually be completed.

Analysts lift Workday stock consensus target

Alongside the takeover speculation, analyst expectations for Workday stock have been adjusted upward in recent days. As of September 20, 2026, the average one-year price target for Workday has been revised to EUR 180.10 per share on the Milan listing, up 11.17 percent from a prior estimate of EUR 162.00 that was in place on August 27, 2026. According to MSN on September 20, 2026, the current targets span a range from EUR 79.91 to EUR 248.32, while the median target has risen to EUR 188.60 from EUR 160.61, an absolute increase of EUR 27.99.

The same overview notes that the new average price target of EUR 180.10 sits 4.71 percent above a recent closing price of EUR 172.00 per share recorded on September 18, 2026 on the European venue, giving investors a sense of the upside implied by consensus valuations. Over the past week, Workday’s share price on that listing has gained 6.98 percent from a baseline close of EUR 160.78 on September 11, 2026, while the one-month performance is reported as a 3.24 percent increase from EUR 166.60 on August 18, 2026, illustrating how momentum has strengthened into the second half of September 2026.

AI recurring revenue accelerates strongly

Beyond the potential Silver Lake transaction and the higher analyst targets, fundamental trends in Workday’s AI-driven products are also drawing attention. As of the latest reported quarter within the current fiscal year, Workday’s annual recurring revenue from AI products has reached nearly USD 600 million, compared with roughly USD 500 million in the preceding quarter. According to Ofweek on September 20, 2026, this represents a quarter-over-quarter increase of more than 20 percent and a year-over-year increase of over 200 percent for Workday’s AI subscription business.

The same analysis highlights that Workday’s AI products form part of a broader shift in enterprise software, where leading software-as-a-service providers such as Workday, CrowdStrike and ServiceNow are seen as beneficiaries due to their established data and process repositories. For Workday, the nearly USD 600 million level of AI recurring revenue in the current reporting period, from a base of about USD 500 million in the previous quarter, underscores how quickly this segment is scaling and becoming a more material contributor to the group’s overall subscription revenue.

Buyout financing talks add uncertainty and potential support

On the corporate side, the prospective Silver Lake acquisition remains a key uncertainty for Workday stock. The Choicestock report on September 17, 2026 describes sizeable equity financing activities that are continuing in support of the buyout proposal, and notes that this progress increases the market’s perception that a deal may ultimately be completed. At the same time, the article stresses that it is still not certain whether the transaction will reach final approval and closing, meaning investors must weigh both the upside from a possible premium offer and the risk that talks could stall or be withdrawn.

Choicestock also points out that strong momentum in Workday’s AI products and a stable growth outlook for its core human capital management and financial management platforms provide additional justification for the share price strength seen around September 17, 2026. If Silver Lake were to finalize an acquisition of Workday, the financing structure and any agreed deal premium would be central to how much further the stock might react; yet even without a completed transaction, the AI recurring revenue figures and consensus price target increase described by MSN suggest that fundamental and valuation support is improving into late September 2026.

Workday stock level and market metrics

On the primary Nasdaq listing in the United States, Workday stock most recently closed at a price that is broadly consistent with the EUR 172.00 level cited for the European venue on September 18, 2026, when converted to US dollars at prevailing exchange rates, though exact intraday figures differ across markets. This places the shares a few percent below their implicit one-year consensus target when translated from EUR 180.10, and around 6.98 percent above the EUR 160.78 baseline recorded a week earlier on September 11, 2026 on the Milan listing, highlighting the degree of recent appreciation.

Market capitalization figures in the available data point to Workday being valued in the tens of billions of US dollars as of mid-September 2026, consistent with its status as a large-cap enterprise software provider. Trading volumes on the main US listing have been elevated around the period of the Silver Lake financing reports, reflecting higher investor activity as market participants position for a possible buyout and for further growth in the company’s AI and cloud subscription lines.