$2 Trillion Erased from Software Market Cap — IGV ETF's 22% Decline Is Worst-Ever for Software, Exceeding Dot-Com Bust
Tech Insider·high signal
The SaaS selloff that began after Anthropic's Claude Cowork announcement in January 2026 has now wiped approximately $2 trillion from software market capitalization. The IGV software ETF's 22% decline relative to the S&P 500 is officially 'the worst ever for software — exceeding the dot-com bust, the GFC, and the 2022 rate-hike shock.' Forward P/E multiples collapsed from 84.1x (2020-2022 peak) to 22.7x — below the S&P 500's overall multiple for the first time. The market is structurally repricing per-seat software in a world where AI agents replace licensed users.