The 2026 Software Stock Sell-Off: AI Disruption Fear, Broken Logic, or Something Else Entirely?

Year to date, many of the market's most beloved software stocks have been slammed. 2025's market darling, Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR), for example, is down about 22% already in 2026. And long-term wealth compounders Adobe, Salesforce, and ServiceNow have all seen their shares slide about 25% to 30% so far this year. These declines exemplify a beating that focused on most of the market's pure-play software companies. What's even more interesting is that this sell-off comes as these companies report strong results, with artificial intelligence (AI) looking more like a catalyst for their businesses than a headwind.So, what's causing this widespread fear in the market toward software stocks? Based on most headlines, the explanation is this: Investors are becoming increasingly worried about AI's potential to disrupt software.But this logic may be broken.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool