Software maker Dassault Systèmes’ stock price falls after fourth-quarter results

Stock price of French software giant Dassault Systèmes Shares plunged as much as 21% in early trading on Wednesday, on track for their worst trading day on record.

By 9:10 a.m., Paris-listed shares had fallen about 20% after trading in London was suspended due to the protests.

The announcement comes after the company released fourth-quarter results on Wednesday morning, showing a 5% decline in revenue from software in the final three months of last year.

For the full year, total revenue was flat at 6.24 billion euros ($7.43 billion), lower than expected, and software revenue barely increased at 5.64 billion euros.

Analysts had expected total sales to reach 6.3 billion euros, according to LSEG data.

Dassault Systèmes is “leading the transformation of industrial AI” through its industrial AI offering 3D UNIV+RSES, CEO Pascal Daloz said in a statement accompanying the results.

“This is not a short-term goal; it is a long-term commitment to redefining how the industry innovates, operates and competes,” he said. “In 2025 and 2026, we will align our resources with our strategic priorities and focus on disciplined execution that delivers measurable, industry-defining impact.”

Software companies were at the center of the market’s AI concerns last week, as Anthropic’s new artificial intelligence tools caused a slide in software-as-a-service and data provider stocks. Dassault Systèmes’ stock has lost more than 4% of its value in one week.

Aoifhine Devitt, senior investment advisor at Moneta, said Wednesday’s plunge in Dassault Systèmes was just the latest example of the so-called “SaaS apocalypse” trade.

“There are real concerns right now about some of the winners who were in the lead last year,” David said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

—CNBC’s Hugh Leask contributed to this article.