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Why the Software Sell-Off May Be Almost Over
Wall Street spent a year betting AI would destroy the software industry.
The trade was simple.
Buy the chips that build the AI models. Sell the software companies whose products the AI is supposed to replace.
The bet worked for most of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, with semiconductor stocks ripping to all-time highs and software stocks falling 24% on the year.
The chart now says the market is starting to change its mind.
Past performance is not indicative of future returns.
The ratio between the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) is the cleanest way to measure which group is leading inside the technology sector.
SMH holds the 25 largest U.S. semiconductor companies with Nvidia, Broadcom, and AMD as its top weights, while IGV holds the largest U.S. software companies with Microsoft, Oracle, Palantir, and Salesforce as its top weights.
When the ratio rises, semis are outperforming software, and when it falls, software is taking the lead.
Right now, the ratio is sitting 65.8% above its 200-day moving average.
That is the most extended reading the relationship has ever recorded.
For context, the previous extreme came during the 2024 AI rally, when semis pulled away from software for the first time.
That extension was less than half of what we are seeing today.
Leadership moves rarely continue in a straight line forever.
Sectors that pull ahead at this kind of pace tend to consolidate while the lagging group catches up, which is the classical mean reversion setup.
The fundamental story behind the divergence has been the “AI eating SaaS” thesis, the idea that AI tools would replace existing software products and crush margins for the incumbents.
That thesis drove software stocks down for most of the past year while semiconductor stocks rallied on AI infrastructure demand.
The thesis is starting to lose steam.
Palantir, ServiceNow, Atlassian, Twilio, and DataDog all reported strong Q1 2026 earnings in late April, with several names rallying double digits on their prints.
Software analysts at Wedbush and D.A. Davidson have flagged the sector as oversold, and Bloomberg, CNBC, and multiple sell-side desks have called out the same divergence the chart is showing.
The implications for an everyday investor depend on how the rotation plays out.
A confirmed rotation does not mean semis collapse, it means leadership broadens inside technology, with both sectors able to stay positive in absolute terms while the relative trend shifts.
For investors heavily concentrated in semiconductor names, the setup suggests reviewing exposure and considering whether broader technology positioning might be more durable from here, and for investors who have avoided software because of the AI displacement story, the chart is starting to suggest that the worst of the selling may be behind us.
What would invalidate the rotation thesis is straightforward.
If the SMH/IGV ratio continues to extend without consolidating, and software fails to follow through on the recent earnings strength, the divergence could continue and the mean reversion never triggers.
The setup requires confirmation in the form of software stabilization and a flattening of the ratio.
The level to monitor is the 200-day moving average on the SMH/IGV relationship.
A move back toward that level would confirm the rotation is in motion. Until then, the setup is coiled at the most extended reading on record, and the next move could go either way.
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Originally posted 8th May 2026
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