U.S. Software Stocks Tumble as IBM's Disappointing Earnings Raise Investor Concerns

On July 14, according to BIT (bit.com) market data, U.S. software and IT services company stocks tumbled after International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) posted earnings that missed analyst expectations, reigniting market concerns about the sector's outlook. In early trading on Tuesday, IBM shares plunged as much as 26%, which, if sustained through the close, would mark the worst single-day performance since at least 1968. IBM attributed the missed earnings to clients shifting capital expenditure from its products to chips and servers. The software sector broadly came under pressure, with Microsoft falling 2%, Workday Inc. dropping 6.3%, Salesforce Inc. declining 3.2%, Autodesk Inc. sliding 2.4%, and SAP SE losing 3.4%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, which tracks the software sector, was down as much as 2.7% before paring some losses.