Software Stocks Surge as AI Demand Narrative Strengthens; ETF Up 21% in May

Enterprise software stocks rallied on Tuesday, extending a breakout as the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF closed May with a 21% gain—its best month since October 2001. The surge was fueled by Snowflake and Dell earnings that dismantled the “SaaSpocalypse” thesis, which had driven valuations sharply lower. Snowflake’s revenue rose 34% to $1.39 billion and its AI customer accounts more than tripled, while Dell reported $16.1 billion in AI server revenue, up 757%, against a $51.3 billion backlog. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s Computex keynote framed agentic AI as the next major platform shift, directly validating demand for the enterprise software that governs autonomous agents. ServiceNow jumped 10%, bringing its two-session gain to 26%, while Okta held a 30% post-earnings surge and MongoDB sustained momentum following 25% revenue growth. CrowdStrike traded near a 52-week high ahead of its June 3 earnings report.