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Citigroup Slashes Confluent (CFLT) Price Target Amid Cloud Optimization Headwinds

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) is one of the best mid cap AI stocks to buy right now. Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) is one of the best midcap AI stocks to buy right now. On August 4, 2025, Citigroup maintained its Neutral rating on Confluent but sharply lowered its price target from $30 to $20, signaling a more cautious stance on the company’s near-term growth trajectory. Analyst Tyler Radke cited ongoing cloud optimization trends among Confluent’s largest customers, which are expected to weigh on the company’s cloud revenue growth well into the first half of 2026.

Despite the downgrade, the report acknowledged Confluent’s position as a leader in real-time data streaming and event-driven architecture. However, with macro pressures prompting clients to rein in cloud spend and elongate deal cycles, Citigroup opted to stay on the sidelines until demand signals improve. The lowered price target reflects a tempered outlook on both consumption-based revenue and the pace of enterprise expansion over the next few quarters.

Confluent is a data infrastructure company based in California. It provides a cloud-native platform built around Apache Kafka, enabling organizations to stream, process, and react to data in real time.

While we acknowledge the potential of CFLT to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CFLT and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

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What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

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