We recently compiled a list of the 15 Software Infrastructure Stocks Outperforming In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where F5 Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) stands against the other software infrastructure stocks.
Software stocks had a troubling end to the last year and some even continued to fall during January. After a solid year, profit-taking would have been acceptable. However, the continuous decline in January had investors worried, with some media personalities calling it the end of software stocks.
It didn’t take the market long to change its views though. In general, software stocks are not as negatively impacted by tariffs as hardware stocks. Since Trump took over, people have been evaluating their options and with tariffs on the horizon, found software to be a relatively safe sector.
There were some concerns on the AI front as well. The emergence of DeepSeek AI has meant that companies in the US may not be willing to spend more on their AI ventures. Similarly, businesses could simply use DeepSeek’s much cheaper technology, causing downward pressure on subscription prices for instance. So far, none of this looks like becoming a reality, so on the back of solid earnings, most software stocks have comfortably outperformed the market.
We decided to take a look at the top 15 stocks that are outperforming the market so far this year. To come up with our list of 15 software infrastructure stocks outperforming in 2025, we only considered stocks with a market cap of at least 2 billion that were outpacing the broader market till the end of last week.
A network engineer gazing intently at computer monitors, surrounded by servers and storage systems.
F5 Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)
F5 Inc. is a multi-cloud application delivery and security solutions provider that provides networking, unified, app management, and security solutions. The company also offers training, maintenance, consulting, and other technical support services. It sells its products to service providers, public sector institutions, large enterprise businesses, and governments. The stock is up 22% so far this year, comfortably outperforming the broader market.
The company reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings last week and an 11% YoY revenue growth excited investors. While the services segment remained stable, software and systems segments registered healthy growth at the rate of 22% and 18% respectively.
The FFIV bullish thesis consists of two main components, both backed by the artificial intelligence demand. First, as companies scale their AI infrastructure, they will need to pass more and more data between the storage and computing components. FFIV’s BIG-IP platform does exactly this.
Moreover, the company’s API protection technology is also crucial in securing the increasing usage of APIs. We believe these two technologies position the company perfectly to gain from AI going mainstream, driving its bullish thesis.
Overall FFIV ranks 12th on our list of the software infrastructure stocks outperforming in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of FFIV as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as FFIV but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.