If you look at an index like the SMB500, you'd think it's been a quiet start to the year for U.S.
stocks.
But there have been seismic shifts under the surface,
with software stocks in particular moving dramatically.
So what's behind these moves and what do they tell us about the state of this long-running bull market?
I'm Allison Nathan and this is Goldman Sachs Exchanges.
Today I'm sitting down with Ryan Hammond, a portfolio strategist in Goldman Sachs Research.
Ryan, welcome back to the program.
Thanks for having me.
So, Ryan,
let's start where the price action has been really volatile in recent days, software stocks.
Put some numbers around these moves.
Give us some context about what we've seen.
Yeah, a group of software stocks is down about 25% to start the year.
Some of that selling pressure started earlier than 2026.
These stocks are down more than 30% from their highs in October.
But most of the selling pressure has really occurred in the last week or two.
If you think about it in a valuation context, these stocks are super popular among investors,
in part because they're fast growing, high margin businesses.
But that is coming under some scrutiny from investors.