software PM market analysis — 2026-09-01

Software valuations are diverging from fundamentals. A cluster of companies with strong revenue growth continues to trade as market laggards, with analysts flagging meaningful upside that the market has yet to price in, according to Investing.com. That gap suggests investors are still discounting execution risk even where top-line performance is solid.

The underlying driver is a monetisation shift. Forrester notes that enterprise software vendors are moving away from seat-based licensing toward usage-based AI pricing built on credits, tokens and metered consumption. This changes how revenue is earned and how predictable it is, and it is reshaping the risk calculus CIOs apply when renewing or expanding contracts.

Execution remains the swing factor. Arcade’s research points to a persistent gap between broad AI experimentation and dependable production deployment, with governance, authorisation, audit trails and cost control emerging as the practical requirements that separate scaled platforms from pilots. Vendors that can demonstrate reliable production use and disciplined monetisation are best placed to close the valuation gap; those that cannot are likely to stay discounted regardless of headline growth.