CROSS-CATEGORY: The SaaS P/E Paradox — $1.44T Spend Growing 15.1% While Software Forward P/E Falls Below S&P 500 for First Time

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Gartner's April 22 report shows software spending at $1.44T growing 15.1% — but the IGV software ETF has fallen 21% YTD and ~30% from its September 2025 peak, wiping $2 trillion in market cap. Software forward P/E collapsed from 84.1x (2020-22 peak) to 22.7x (Jan-Mar 2026), falling below the S&P 500 for the first time in history. The paradox: enterprises are spending more on software than ever, but investors are pricing in that the incremental budget is going to AI labs and agent infrastructure, not to the SaaS incumbents who held it before.