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ARTICLE · 22 OCTOBER 2026

What Your Software Company Is Worth Now

Foley & Lardner LLP
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The software industry has undergone a dramatic transformation since 2021, with growth rates collapsing and market valuations shifting from growth premiums to cash flow fundamentals. As AI reshapes competitive dynamics and strategic buyers hunt for value in repriced assets, understanding what drives software valuations today requires looking beyond traditional SaaS metrics to product strength and AI resilience.

United StatesFinance and Banking
Louis Lehot
Louis Lehot
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Takeaways from the Jefferies monthly software valuation update

Rob Bartlett of Jefferies joined the panel I moderated last month on whether companies should buy, sell, or wait. This week I read his team’s monthly software valuation update, with data through September 30. I read a lot of bank decks. This one I read twice.

Here is what is new in it, and what the room added that the charts cannot.

Eighty percent of software is slow now

More than 80 percent of public software companies are expected to grow less than 20 percent next year. Five years ago, nearly half the industry grew faster than that. Today, of the 123 companies Jefferies tracks, exactly eight are projected to grow above 30 percent, and they are chips, clouds, and data platforms rather than the subscription names of the last cycle.

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