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This Month's Featured Story 5 Software Stocks That Look Too Cheap to IgnoreSubmitted by Ryan Hasson. Publication Date: 2/16/2026. 
Key Points - Software stocks have plunged into bear-market territory, resetting valuations across the sector amid fears of AI.
- Investor fears that rapid AI advancements could disrupt traditional software giants and SaaS models.
- With sentiment deeply negative and earnings multiples well below historical norms, select software names fully embracing AI could offer compelling long-term opportunities.
- Special Report: [Sponsorship-Ad-6-Format3]
One of the biggest stories in the market so far this year, if not the biggest, has been the rapid decline of software stocks. Coming out of the 2022 bear market, software names were among the strongest performers in the entire equity market. From the start of 2023 through the highs of 2025, software stocks, represented by the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS: IGV), surged more than 100%. Many leading individual names didn't just outperform the benchmark — they doubled or even tripled its return. But that momentum has shifted abruptly. The sector is no longer in a bull market. It has entered a correction so deep that it now sits firmly in bear market territory. IGV has fallen roughly 30% from its 52-week high and is down nearly 22% year-to-date. Moves like this do more than shake confidence; they reset valuations. As a result, many high-quality software companies are now trading well below their historical earnings multiples. Before diving into five software names that now look too cheap to ignore, it's worth asking what caused the selloff in the first place. AI Disruption Pushes Software into a Bear Market The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has led investors to question whether traditional software, particularly Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models, could face structural disruption. Over the past year, AI leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Alphabet have rolled out increasingly sophisticated models capable of coding, video generation, research, and task automation. These tools are not theoretical — they are functional, and that has created real anxiety for the software industry. AI agents that can handle both technical and non-technical workflows have led investors to wonder whether some SaaS providers could be bypassed entirely. The market's message has been clear: software companies must integrate AI quickly, or risk irrelevance. But as with most sharp selloffs, fear often overshoots reality. The companies below have felt the brunt of that fear, and in many cases their valuations now reflect worst-case scenarios rather than balanced outcomes. Salesforce: AI Headwinds, or AI Opportunity? Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) has been one of the hardest-hit large-cap software names. Shares have fallen more than 42% from their 52-week high and are down roughly 29% year-to-date. Ironically, Salesforce pioneered the SaaS customer relationship management (CRM) model and built a broad cloud-first ecosystem spanning sales, service, marketing, commerce, and analytics. Yet that very SaaS positioning is what has made investors nervous in the AI era. The concern is that AI agents could compress traditional subscription economics. Still, analysts disagree with the severity of the selloff. Based on 43 ratings, Salesforce holds a Moderate Buy consensus, with a price target implying nearly 71% upside. Several firms, including Goldman Sachs, have highlighted AI-driven growth via Salesforce's Agentforce platform as a potential inflection point. Agentforce allows customers to build and customize AI-powered agents through a low-code interface, fully integrated within Salesforce's ecosystem. That is a key point: Salesforce is not ignoring AI — it is embedding it. For long-term investors who believe the company can leverage AI rather than be disrupted by it, the current forward P/E of 14.4 is hard to ignore. Dropbox: Value Trap or Deep Value? Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX) has faced steady selling pressure over the past four months. Shares are down 26% from their 52-week high and nearly 12% year-to-date. The result is a forward P/E of just 8 — by almost any measure, value territory. The question is whether that valuation is justified or a value trap. Dropbox operates in cloud-based file storage, precisely the area investors fear AI could commoditize. Management has acknowledged the challenge, noting the company is transitioning from a traditional storage platform to an AI-powered platform for productivity and content intelligence. Products such as Dropbox Dash, Dropbox AI, and Dropbox Studio are part of that shift. The goal is to reduce time spent searching, organizing, and managing content — turning storage into intelligence. Analyst sentiment remains largely neutral as the company navigates this transition. However, the consensus price target of $31.33 implies nearly 30% upside, suggesting the selloff may have overshot reality or at least opened the door for a relief rally. At eight times forward earnings, even modest execution improvements could make valuation a support. Adobe: Oversold on AI Fears? Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) has been one of the most punished mega-cap software stocks. Shares are down 43% from their 52-week high and nearly 25% year-to-date. The primary concern has been generative AI competition — tools such as OpenAI's Sora have raised fears that lower-cost alternatives could erode Adobe's creative dominance. But Adobe's response has been aggressive. Through Adobe Firefly, the company introduced a commercially safe generative AI model trained on licensed data. More importantly, AI is not being bolted on as a separate tool — it is deeply integrated into Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Express. That integration matters because creative professionals want AI embedded within trusted workflows, not standalone toys. While analyst sentiment remains neutral, with a consensus Hold rating, Adobe's forward P/E of 10 places the stock in attractive value territory for investors who believe the company can maintain its leadership position. Oracle: AI Spending Anxiety Meets Opportunity Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) has also been caught in AI crosscurrents, but for different reasons than the other names. Since October 2025, shares have fallen more than 53% from their 52-week high and are down nearly 18% year-to-date. Investors have grown uneasy about massive, debt-funded capital expenditures tied to AI data centers and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The widely discussed multi-year OpenAI deal, reportedly valued at nearly $300 billion over five years, has fueled both optimism and skepticism. There are many questions about timing, execution, and near-term returns on AI infrastructure investments. After the stock's rapid rise in recent years, expectations were very high. Technically, the stock recently attempted to bottom near $140 and is trading just below its 20-day moving average. Reclaiming that level could signal the first step toward stabilizing the downtrend. Fundamentally, Oracle continues to secure public-sector deals. The City of Atlanta recently expanded its relationship, adopting Oracle Permitting and Licensing along with Oracle AI Agent Studio. On the same day, ReGrow Israel selected Oracle's Agriculture Data Intelligence platform as part of the Oracle Digital Government Suite. Analysts remain overwhelmingly bullish, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a price target implying over 80% upside potential. Institutions have maintained net positive inflows into Oracle over the past 12 months. With sentiment broadly negative toward the sector and Oracle, yet Wall Street remaining steadfast, Oracle might be setting up for a relief rally. IGV: A Diversified Approach Not every investor wants the volatility of individual stock selection. For those who believe the software selloff may be overdone but prefer diversified exposure, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, or IGV, offers a compelling alternative. The ETF provides targeted exposure to North American software companies across the technology and communication services sectors. As of February 13, IGV holds 114 stocks and trades at a P/E of 34. Its top five holdings — Microsoft, Oracle, Palantir, Salesforce, and Palo Alto Networks — account for nearly 38% of the fund's weighting. From a technical standpoint, IGV recently found support near $80, a level that aligns with multi-year weekly support. If that zone holds, it could represent a meaningful long-term entry point for investors who believe the software correction has gone too far. Why This Reset May Be an Opportunity Software stocks were market outperformers for nearly two years. Now they are among the biggest laggards. Bear-market resets within sectors often create opportunity, particularly when driven by fear of disruption rather than collapsing fundamentals. AI is not just a threat — for many companies it could also be a catalyst for growth, especially for those that fully embrace AI and retain or expand their market share. Salesforce, Dropbox, Adobe, Oracle, and IGV each represent different ways to play the same theme: valuations have compressed meaningfully, and expectations have reset. The key question is not whether AI will reshape the industry — it will. The real question is which companies adapt and integrate quickly enough to thrive in the next cycle.
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