Is the prolonged slump in the software sector finally coming to an end? While the semiconductor sector has dragged down the Nasdaq 100 index for two consecutive days, the software sector has quietly stabilized and begun to recover. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) rose over 1% on Monday, marking a cumulative gain of more than 20% since its April low and reaching its highest price point since January. Many market participants now believe the software sector has entered a minor bull market. Options traders are showing bullish sentiment toward the sector. On Monday, investors collectively sold nearly 28,000 put options on the IGV ETF, signaling an optimistic view that negative pressures have been exhausted. Simultaneously, the volume of call options purchased far exceeded that of put options. Selling put options is considered a bullish strategy, where traders collect a premium while agreeing to buy the underlying asset at the strike price. Aggressive bullish trades also emerged. Among the day's large options transactions, one trader spent $32 million to purchase 7,000 Microsoft call options with a strike price of $390, expiring on August 21. Of Microsoft's ten largest options trades that day, eight involved buying call options. The improved market sentiment was further bolstered by positive analyst reports. Bank of America analyst Tal Liani resumed coverage of SAP, assigning it a Buy rating with a $130 price target. The stock surged 9% on the day, with options activity heavily skewed toward calls—call option volume reached five times that of puts. Even Salesforce, which had been underperforming and was rated Underperform by Bank of America, rebounded 3.5% on Monday, with its call option volume tripling that of puts. Although most software stocks remain significantly below their peaks from last year, the cybersecurity subsector has been a notable exception, showing strong performance against the trend. The Amplify Cybersecurity ETF has gained 16% since April 20 and closed up another 3% on Monday. Stocks like CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks within the ETF have even reached all-time highs. Since 2026, the market has been overshadowed by pessimism over a "software winter," with investors fearing that AI agent tools would gradually replace the business of traditional software companies, leading to a sell-off in the sector. Despite the recent rebound, the IGV software sector ETF is still down 12% year-to-date.