Box CEO Aaron Levie says that in the 20-year history of his cloud software vendor, "this is the most exciting moment we've ever had." Wall Street doesn't see it that way.
The stock is down 17% in 2026 after starting the year with its steepest monthly drop since 2023. It's gotten caught up in a software swoon, as investors dump shares of companies that they worry will get displaced by the rise of artificial intelligence agents.
The WisdomTree Cloud Computing Fund has plummeted about 20% so far in 2026, including a 6.5% drop this week. A number of companies are faring far worse than Box. HubSpot has fallen 39% this year following a 42% slump in 2025. Figma has plunged 40% this year, Atlassian is down 35%, and Shopify has dropped 29%.
The generative AI boom, kickstarted by OpenAI's ChatGPT a little over three years ago, has rapidly pushed into the business realm, with new tools that can create apps, websites and other digital products in a matter of seconds or minutes with a few text prompts. Levie describes the "cognitive dissonance" happening inside the industry, as companies see the power of the new technology to enhance their products, while also reckoning with the broader outside fear that AI will destroy them.
"It somewhat misunderstands this idea of where companies tend to spend their resources and their time and their energy," Levie told CNBC's "The Exchange" on Wednesday.
He made the case that businesses would much rather pay for products and services from a vendor specializing in back office software or customer relationship management systems than do it themselves and carry all the liabilities that follow.