Dassault Systemes raised its 2026 revenue and margin targets after third-quarter revenue rose 5% to 1.55 billion euros, with 3DEXPERIENCE software revenue up 25% and operating margin at 31.6%.
Dassault Systemes raised its 2026 revenue and margin targets on Wednesday after third-quarter revenue rose 5% to 1.55 billion euros. The French software group now expects full-year revenue growth of 4% to 5%, up from 3% to 5%, and an operating margin of 32.5% to 32.7%, up from 32.2% to 32.6%, in what Reuters describes as its first upgrade in two years.
The quarter's growth was led by the company's subscription and cloud businesses. Software revenue rose 5%, 3DEXPERIENCE software revenue rose 25% and cloud software revenue rose 14%, while annual recurring revenue grew at a consistent 6%. Operating earnings grew 10% to 490 million euros, lifting the operating margin to 31.6% from 30.1% a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share rose 8% to 0.32 euros. Operating cash flow rose 20% in the first nine months of the year.
The company also confirmed the completion of its $1.8 billion purchase of life-sciences software maker ArisGlobal, completed in September, and appointed Dr. Ashwini Zenooz as executive vice president and chief executive of life sciences and healthcare. Dassault Systemes said the deal would add two percentage points to its fourth-quarter growth forecast of 5% to 8%, and that ArisGlobal was projected to grow in double digits in 2027. A separate company release on the same day describes a unified, AI-native platform for life sciences connecting the therapeutic lifecycle.
The figures in this story come from the company's own press release, and the Reuters account corroborates the revenue total, the raised ranges, the operating earnings figure and the ArisGlobal contribution to the fourth-quarter forecast. Revenue growth has accelerated through 2026, from 3% in the first quarter to 5% in the July to September period, according to chief financial officer Rouven Bergmann.
The upgrade matters because it signals that a slowdown dating back to 2023 may have bottomed out, in Reuters' assessment. The test of that reading will be whether the recurring software base keeps growing at the same pace once the ArisGlobal contribution is stripped out, since acquisition effects can flatter a single quarter's growth rate.
The next markers are the fourth quarter, where the company expects growth of 5% to 8% including the ArisGlobal effect, and 2027, when ArisGlobal is expected to grow in double digits on its own. If both hold, the life-sciences bet becomes a second growth engine alongside the core 3DEXPERIENCE business; if not, the upgrade will look like a single strong quarter rather than a turn.