Confluent Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) shares jumped 14% in early Wednesday trading after Reuters reported that the real-time data infrastructure company is exploring a potential sale following interest from technology firms and private equity investors.
According to the report, Confluent has hired an investment bank to assist with the review process, which remains in its early stages. The move comes amid strong acquisition interest driven by the surge in AI-related demand for real-time data processing capabilities — an area where Confluent’s technology plays a key role.
The company, valued at roughly $7 billion, has seen its stock fall about 26% year-to-date, a decline that could make it more attractive to potential acquirers, Reuters noted. However, no transaction is guaranteed, and Confluent may ultimately choose to remain independent, according to the report.
Based in Mountain View, California, Confluent was founded by the creators of Apache Kafka and provides enterprise solutions that enable organizations to manage massive streams of real-time data — technology that has become increasingly important in AI-driven analytics.
Commenting on the news, Wolfe Research analyst Alex Zukin said he wasn’t surprised by the development, citing a wave of consolidation across the software industry. He identified IBM (NYSE:IBM), Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), and ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) as the most likely strategic bidders.
“We think CFLT is a strategic asset and believe IBM, a data platform like SNOW, or NOW would make the most sense, as CFLT provides best-in-class data streaming capabilities that would enable true real-time analytics capabilities across their customer bases, which is increasingly critical as AI applications demand low-latency data processing,” Zukin commented.
The analyst estimated a potential acquisition price of $30 per share, which would value the company at roughly 8x EV/CY26 revenue.
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