Deutsche Bank upgrades Bytes and Cerillion, cuts Softcat

What Brokers Say Tech Written by: Ian Lyall 11:00 Wed 26 Aug 2026 --> Proactive has a commercial relationship with Bytes Technology Group PLC. This article was produced independently under Proactive's Editorial Standards Policy . Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Ian Lyall Ian Lyall, a seasoned journalist and editor, brings over three decades of experience to his role as Managing Editor at Proactive. Overseeing Proactive's editorial and broadcast operations across six offices on three continents, Ian is responsible for quality control, editorial policy, and content production. He directs the creation of 50,000 pieces of real-time news, feature articles, and filmed interviews annually. Prior to Proactive, Ian helped lead the business output at the Daily... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Bytes Technology Group PLC ( LSE:BYIT JSE:BYI ) View Price & Profile Deutsche Bank upgrades Bytes and Cerillion, cuts Softcat Published: 11:00 26 Aug 2026 BST Deutsche Bank has reshuffled its ratings across the UK software and IT services sector, upgrading Bytes Technology Group PLC (LSE:BYIT, FRA:9NY, JSE:BYI) and Cerillion PLC (AIM:CER) to 'buy' while cutting Softcat PLC (LSE:SCT) to 'hold'. Analyst Tintin Stormont lifted the price target on Bytes, the software reseller, to 500p from 410p. Cerillion, which supplies billing and customer management software to telecoms operators, was upgraded to buy despite a reduction in its target to 1400p from 1575p. Softcat, the IT infrastructure reseller, was moved down to hold, though the bank raised its target to 2140p from 1800p, implying it sees the share price as having run ahead of the fundamentals. The changes come in a note weighing the risks facing the sector in the second half of the year. The sector has performed strongly over the past three months and now sits slightly above where it started the year. It is around 42% above the low it reached in late March. Deutsche Bank said much of that recovery was accounted for by Computacenter, Softcat and Kainos, all of which delivered earnings upgrades. More recently, the bank pointed to improved investor sentiment as the market reassesses how much of a threat artificial intelligence poses to what are seen as traditional business models in software and IT services. That perception has swung repeatedly through the year, with software companies initially marked down on fears that AI tools would erode demand for conventional licensing and services work. The rebound suggests investors are now less convinced of that disruption, at least in the near term. Resellers such as Bytes and Softcat sit slightly apart from that debate, earning margin on distributing third-party software rather than developing their own. Continue reading