Software maker Dassault Systèmes shares fall after Q4 earnings

Shares of French software giant Dassault Systèmes plummeted as much as 21% in early trade on Wednesday, putting the stock on track for its worst trading day ever.

By 9:10 a.m. in London, the Paris-listed shares were around 20% lower, after trading of the stock was briefly suspended at the open.

It came after the company published its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday morning, which showed revenues from software dropped 5% in the final three months of last year.

For the full year, total revenue was flat at a weaker-than-expected 6.24 billion euros ($7.43 billion), and software revenue also showed little growth at 5.64 billion euros.

Analysts had been expecting total revenues to hit 6.3 billion euros, according to LSEG data.

Dassault Systèmes “will lead the Industrial AI transformation” through its industrial AI offering 3D UNIV+RSES,” CEO Pascal Daloz said in a statement alongside the results.

“This is not a short-term goal. It is a long-term commitment to redefine how industries innovate, operate, and compete,” he said. “In 2025 and 2026, we are focused on disciplined execution, aligning resources around our strategic priorities to deliver measurable, industry-defining impact.”

Software companies were at the center of markets’ AI fears last week, as new artificial intelligence tools from Anthropic triggered a sell-off of software-as-a-service and data provider stocks. Over the course of the week, Dassault Systèmes shares shed more than 4% of their value.

Aoifinn Devitt, senior investment advisor at Moneta, said that Dassault Systèmes’ sharp fall on Wednesday is just the latest example of the so-called “SaaS apocalypse” trade.

“There is really a concern right now around some of those winners that led the charge last year,” Devitt told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

— CNBC’s Hugh Leask contributed to this article.