MW These software stocks could rise as much as 75%. But is now the time to buy?
By Hannah Pedone and Philip van Doorn
ServiceNow, Shopify and Twilio are stocks that appear to stand out in this beaten-down sector, but some believe it's too soon to buy
There are many stocks in the beaten-down software sector that are worth a look for bargain hunters.
Software stocks had a historically weak January, but does that mean the sector should be left for dead?
Some analysts see selective ways to play the beaten-down sector, even in the face of bearish sentiment related to fears of artificial-intelligence disruption.
Jefferies analyst Samad Samana expects that investors will return to application-software names "when growth inflects alongside AI revenues," he wrote in a Sunday note to clients. While there are fears that AI will eat into traditional software-as-a-service businesses, Samana thinks investors have come around to the idea that AI and "vibe-coding" offerings are "unlikely to fully displace B2B SaaS solutions," a reference to business-to-business companies.
As it stands, investors are seeing better monetization potential with companies more exposed to AI hardware. Take, for instance, equipment maker ASML $(ASML)$, which had a record-breaking quarter for bookings, and Sandisk $(SNDK)$, which guided next quarter's revenue almost 60% above the consensus view.
But Samana expects AI monetization to move up the stack going forward, meaning software companies would eventually get their due. And for now, he sees "a few names" that could work for investors.
ServiceNow (NOW), Shopify (SHOP) and Twilio $(TWLO)$ "stand out as attractive," while customer-relations-software Nice $(NICE)$ does too, when looking at its "purely washed-out valuation," he wrote. Nice's stock is trading at a price-to-earnings valuation that is less than half its five-year average, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
A large-cap software stock screen
Another way to look for bargains in the software space is to screen companies in the S&P 500 index SPX.
Among the 25 software stocks in the S&P 500, there are 14 rated a buy or the equivalent by at least two-thirds of analysts polled by LSEG. Here they are, sorted by 12-month upside potential implied by the analysts' consensus price targets.
Company 12-month upside potential implied by consensus price targets Projected revenue CAGR from 2025 through 2027 Forard P/E Forward P/E as of Oct. 31 Price change from Oct. 31 through Jan. 30 Oracle 75% 33.4% 21.3 35.9 -37% ServiceNow 67% 19.4% 27.0 45.8 -36% Tyler Technologies 65% 9.1% 28.8 38.6 -22% Workday 55% 12.2% 16.0 23.4 -27% AppLovin 55% 31.8% 30.0 47.1 -26% Datadog 51% 20.7% 51.5 74.3 -21% Autodesk 47% 11.0% 21.4 27.2 -16% Trimble 44% 7.7% 19.1 24.2 -15% Microsoft 40% 16.1% 23.6 30.0 -17% Fair Isaac 37% 19.0% 31.1 39.5 -12% Palo Alto Networks 30% 13.4% 42.6 55.9 -20% Cadence Design Systems 29% 12.4% 35.7 42.8 -12% Take-Two Interactive Software 25% 20.6% 29.4 38.8 -14% Synopsys 20% 20.6% 30.5 32.1 2% Source: LSEG
The table includes projected compound annual growth rates for the companies' revenue and earnings per share from calendar 2025 through 2027. The estimates are adjusted to match calendar years for companies whose fiscal reporting periods don't match the calendar. In comparison, the S&P 500's projected revenue CAGR for the same period is 7.1%. For the S&P 500's information technology sector, the projected revenue CAGR is 18.2%.
The table also includes forward price-to-earnings ratios, showing how they have declined since Oct. 31. These are prices divided by rolling consensus 12-month earnings-per-share estimates. They compare to the current forward P/E of 22.2 for the S&P 500 and 25.2 for the S&P 500 information-technology sector.
Any stock screen is limited, and you should do your own research to form your own opinion before making any investment. A good way to begin that process is to click on the tickers for more about each company.
Some still advocate avoidance
Software stocks have traditionally been known for their growth profiles, but now "the sector is adjusting to a new reality, one where it is simply no longer the growth king," William Blair analyst Arjun Bhatia wrote in a note to clients.
He noted that "growth is broadly not accelerating in software, while it is in other sectors," like those more linked to AI data-center buildouts, he said.
And coming off the worst January on record for the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV, which was down about 15% last month, Bhatia thinks investors might want to resist the temptations of the software sector for now.
"With the sector trading on fear rather than fundamentals, the sentiment may stay negative for longer and make it more challenging for us to pinpoint when/where the bottom is," he wrote. "While our instinct based on the fundamentals is to jump in and buy those that we think will be winners longer term, that seems very much like catching a falling knife at the moment."
-Philip van Doorn
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February 02, 2026 15:58 ET (20:58 GMT)
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