Public software multiples sit at historic lows, yet in each category one business trades at a meaningful premium: CrowdStrike at 3.9x its Security median, Cloudflare at 3.4x Infrastructure, Shopify at 8.1x Commerce. Each has bulldozed an AI focused path.
The CIO's choices are clear in 2026 : fund the AI stack, cut everything else. The public markets are pricing it.
Short interest in public AI stocks has risen modestly overall, but the pressure is concentrated in AI cloud and smaller software names.
Saudi Aramco's tiny float and state control make it a poor comparison for upcoming mega-IPOs like SpaceX, OpenAI & Anthropic.
