Silver Lake's potential acquisition of Workday is increasingly being seen as a broader test of whether private equity will step back into enterprise software after an AI-driven selloff battered valuations. Reuters previously reported that Silver Lake was in talks to acquire Workday in a deal valued at up to $43 billion, and Workday shares surged nearly 18% on Thursday, pushing its market value above $51 billion. Analysts and investors said a deal at a substantial premium would suggest public markets may have become too pessimistic about established software companies whose products remain embedded in critical functions such as human resources and finance. The rally also spread across the sector, with the S&P 500 Software & Services index up roughly 25% quarter-to-date and U.S. peers including Salesforce, Adobe and ServiceNow rising between 1.9% and 4.5% on Friday, while SAP led gains in Europe. Morgan Stanley analysts said a Workday acquisition would support the view that the company has a strong moat and a significant long-term opportunity to automate back-office work.