Retail investors bought back shares of software developers at a record pace on the downturn
The momentum has spread to the derivatives market as well
While professional investors were selling off software developer stocks, retail investors were buying on the downturn / Photo: Shutterstock.com/Shchipkova Elena
Retail traders decided to take advantage of the sharp fall in share prices of software developers: they spent a record amount of money to buy securities, the platform Citadel Securities found out. This was reported by Bloomberg.
Details
The average daily dollar demand for U.S. equities on Citadel's platform between Jan. 2 and Feb. 13 was about 25 percent above the previous 2021 peak and nearly double the 2020-2025 average. Citadel has been tracking this data since 2017.
"Net nominal volume on our platform has reached levels we have not seen before. The scale, resilience and breadth of buying activity has significantly exceeded previous peaks, underscoring the role of retail investors as a major source of additional demand in early 2026," wrote Citadel's head of equity and equity derivatives strategy Scott Rubner, as quoted by Bloomberg
While Wall Street was rushing to revalue these securities due to fears about the threat of artificial intelligence, and professional market participants, including hedge funds, were increasing short positions (bets on the fall) at a record pace, retail investors chose the opposite strategy, Bloomberg writes.
The sell-off that started in the software sector then spread to the broader market: shares of those companies that, in the market's opinion, could be displaced even to a minimal degree by AI technologies were sold. At the same time, demand from retail investors went beyond the tech sector. According to Citadel data, since the beginning of the year they have favored securities of companies from the materials, real estate, finance, communications services and industrials sectors.
The momentum has spread to the derivatives market as well. Retail investor activity in the options market in 2026 is at historically elevated levels, Bloomberg writes. Average daily options trading volume since the beginning of the year is nearly 50% above the 2020-2025 average and more than 15% above last year's pace.
"Retail investors in the options market have seen net purchases in 41 of the last 42 weeks - this consistency is indicative of sustained risk appetite rather than one-off position bets," Rubner wrote.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
