Dassault Systèmes, the company behind SOLIDWORKS, reported its third-quarter 2026 results on 28 October 2026 and raised its full-year targets. Revenue reached about €1.55 billion, up 5% in constant currencies. Its Mainstream Innovation segment, which includes SOLIDWORKS, grew 8% to €375 million, while 3DEXPERIENCE software revenue grew 25% and cloud software revenue grew 14%.
Quarterly results are written for investors, but they also show where a software vendor puts its effort. This quarter, the message is clear: Dassault is growing fastest on its 3DEXPERIENCE platform, on the cloud and with AI. Management said on the earnings call that SOLIDWORKS is growing faster than the group as a whole, and that new SOLIDWORKS customers are mostly joining through the cloud.
For SOLIDWORKS engineers, CAD managers and manufacturing SMEs, that direction affects licence renewals, where design data is stored and how AI features are paid for. Here are the numbers that matter, what they do and do not tell you, and what to check before Dassault's Capital Markets Day on 17 November.
TL;DR: SOLIDWORKS is growing, and Dassault is steering it towards cloud and AI
In Q3 2026, Dassault Systèmes grew revenue 5% in constant currencies to about €1.55 billion. Mainstream Innovation (SOLIDWORKS and CENTRIC PLM) grew 8% to €375 million, 3DEXPERIENCE software revenue grew 25%, and cloud software revenue grew 14% to 28% of software revenue. Full-year targets went up to 4-5% revenue growth. No price changes were announced. For SOLIDWORKS teams: map which licences and files depend on the cloud, budget for metered AI, keep local copies of your design data and keep dated proof of what you designed, independent of any vendor platform.
What did Dassault Systèmes report for Q3 2026?
According to the Q3 2026 press release, approved by the board on 27 October and unaudited, these were the headline figures for the quarter to 30 September 2026 (growth in constant currencies unless stated):
- Total revenue: €1,551.9 million, up 5% (6% as reported). Software revenue was €1,393.5 million, also up 5%.
- Mainstream Innovation: software revenue up 8% to €375 million. The release says "SOLIDWORKS delivered solid broad-based growth", with CENTRIC PLM winning new clients.
- Industrial Innovation: up 5% to €753 million, with ENOVIA leading. Life Sciences and Healthcare: up 1% to €266 million.
- 3DEXPERIENCE: software revenue up 25%, now 46% of the revenue that is eligible for 3DEXPERIENCE, compared with 40% a year earlier.
- Cloud: software revenue up 14%, now 28% of all software revenue.
- Licences and other software: up 14% to €219 million. Subscription and support: up 3%. Recurring revenue was 84% of software revenue.
- Regions: Asia up 12%, led by double-digit growth in China. Europe grew, despite weakness in Central and Southern Europe. The Americas fell 3% against a strong comparison base.
- Profitability: non-IFRS operating margin of 31.6%, up 150 basis points, and non-IFRS diluted earnings per share of €0.32, up 8%.
The company also completed its acquisition of ArisGlobal, a life sciences software company, in the second half of September for about €1.5 billion in cash. That deal matters for Dassault's medical and pharma business, not for SOLIDWORKS.
What did management say about SOLIDWORKS?
The press release does not give a separate revenue figure for SOLIDWORKS. On the earnings call, according to a published transcript, CEO Pascal Daloz and CFO Rouven Bergmann added some detail:
- Growth above the group. Daloz said SOLIDWORKS is growing faster than the group, at 6% or more, and that its performance has been consistent through the year.
- More users. Bergmann said SOLIDWORKS growth was broad-based across regions, with unit growth up double digits.
- AI use cases. Bergmann said there are now over 40 AI use cases available in the SOLIDWORKS portfolio.
- New customers on the cloud. On the SOLIDWORKS business model, Daloz said new clients are now coming in through the cloud offer.
- CENTRIC grows faster. Within Mainstream Innovation, Daloz said CENTRIC PLM is growing at a higher rate than SOLIDWORKS.
Put together, this suggests that the classic desktop SOLIDWORKS install base remains a steady business, while new growth comes from cloud-connected offers such as 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS. If you want the background on how SOLIDWORKS ended up inside Dassault, read who owns SOLIDWORKS and what it means for your designs.
How does AI fit into Dassault's plans for SOLIDWORKS?
AI was the main theme of the release. Daloz said that "AI is moving beyond individual features to become integral to how products are designed, tested and brought to life." Dassault describes its 3D UNIV+RSES strategy as combining science, industrial knowledge and AI to build what it calls Industry World Models and virtual twins.
On the call, management said its Virtual Companions are enabled on 12% to 14% of the installed base, across SOLIDWORKS, CATIA and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and that the agentic platform stays priced per user, with usage measured in units of work and token consumption. Bergmann also said that 2027 should be the first year with revenue from its newest platform generation and 3D UNIV+RSES.
For SOLIDWORKS users, that is already visible. LEO, the Virtual Companion inside SOLIDWORKS Design, runs on metered tokens and needs a 3DEXPERIENCE connection, as we explained in our article on LEO going agentic at NVIDIA GTC Berlin. It can also write macros that run with your user rights, which we covered in SOLIDWORKS AI macros and BREP conversion. And with SOLIDWORKS 2027, Dassault said its AI is not trained on customer data. More AI means more design data passing through cloud services, so the terms you accept matter as much as the features.
Keep proof of your designs that does not depend on any platform.
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Will SOLIDWORKS licences or prices change?
Nothing in the Q3 release announces a price change, a new licence model or an end date for desktop licences. What the figures do show is the direction of travel. Subscription and support revenue rose only 3%, while licences and other software rose 14%, so upfront sales still matter to Dassault. At the same time, the share of 3DEXPERIENCE revenue keeps rising, and the CFO said the results confirm the shift to subscription, cloud and 3DEXPERIENCE.
Dassault will hold a Capital Markets Day in Paris on 17 November 2026, where it said it will share more about its strategy, margins and cash generation. Long-term plans for pricing or packaging, if any, are more likely to appear there than in a quarterly report. Until then, treat any claims of coming price rises as rumours.
Recent changes show how quickly terms can move on the cloud side. In October, 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS for Makers made a platform update mandatory to keep using the software. Our guides to SOLIDWORKS licence management and choosing a SOLIDWORKS reseller help you prepare for renewal talks, and the Delhi court order on unlicensed SOLIDWORKS is a reminder that licence compliance is checked.
Which Q3 numbers matter most for SOLIDWORKS teams?
Here is what each headline figure means in practice for companies that design in SOLIDWORKS.
What does the cloud shift mean for your design data?
Cloud tools make sharing easier, but they also change who holds the copy that counts. When your parts, assemblies and drawings live on a vendor platform, your access depends on an active account, the provider's terms and its security. Our guides on SOLIDWORKS cloud security and cloud storage security for CAD files cover the technical side.
The ownership side is just as important. Industry consolidation keeps changing who runs the services around your files, as we saw when TraceParts joined the KEYENCE Group in October. Keep your own copies of released files, in your SOLIDWORKS PDM vault or another system you control, and set retention rules for CAD data that do not depend on a single subscription.
What should SOLIDWORKS teams do now?
You do not need to react to a quarterly report. But these steps will make your next renewal and your next AI decision easier.
- Map your licences. List which seats are desktop, which are 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS, and which depend on a platform login. Note renewal dates.
- Map your data. Record which projects and files are stored on vendor clouds, which are in PDM, and which sit on laptops or shared drives.
- Keep local copies. Make sure released native files and neutral exports, such as STEP, are stored in a system you control.
- Set AI rules. Decide who may use AI companions on which projects, especially customer and supplier files, and who approves AI-made changes.
- Budget tokens. Track how many AI tokens your team uses and who pays for them before AI becomes part of daily work.
- Read the terms at renewal. Check data location, retention after cancellation, export rights and AI training terms.
- Watch 17 November. Read what Dassault says at its Capital Markets Day before you sign multi-year deals.
- Keep dated proof of your designs. Register important designs with an independent timestamp, so you can show what you made and when, whatever platform you use. See blockchain timestamping for IP and how to prove authorship of CAD designs.
How does this fit the bigger picture for CAD users?
Across our network this week, one theme connects the stories: who controls design data, and who can prove it.
- Trade secret rules as a policy tool. CADChain explains China's draft rules to sanction foreign companies over trade secrets and what European engineering firms should check.
- The cost of copied drawings. BORIS Inventor covers the Jingdiao trade secret case in China, where an engineer took more than 37,000 drawings and documents to a rival.
- Proof of human authorship. Blended BORIS reports on a German court ruling that rejected the "it was AI" defence because the human raw version survived in the final song.
Conclusion
Dassault Systèmes' Q3 2026 results show a healthy SOLIDWORKS business inside a company that is moving quickly towards its 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the cloud and AI agents. Mainstream Innovation grew 8%, the platform grew 25%, and the full-year targets went up. No price changes were announced, and the next signal comes at the Capital Markets Day on 17 November.
For SOLIDWORKS teams, the practical response is the same as for any vendor shift: know your licences, know where your data lives, set rules for AI, and keep dated proof of your designs that you own and control.
Make your SOLIDWORKS designs provably yours.
BORIS for SOLIDWORKS adds blockchain timestamps and certificates of ownership to your CAD files, so you have independent, dated proof of your designs on the desktop, in PDM or on the cloud.
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FAQ: Dassault Systèmes Q3 2026 results and SOLIDWORKS
When did Dassault Systèmes report its Q3 2026 results?
On 28 October 2026. The board approved the unaudited results on 27 October, and the earnings call took place the same day as the release.
How much did SOLIDWORKS grow in Q3 2026?
The press release does not give a separate SOLIDWORKS figure. Mainstream Innovation, which includes SOLIDWORKS and CENTRIC PLM, grew 8% to €375 million. On the call, the CEO said SOLIDWORKS is growing at 6% or more, above the group level.
Is Dassault raising SOLIDWORKS prices?
No price changes were announced in the Q3 results. Dassault will share more about its strategy at its Capital Markets Day in Paris on 17 November 2026.
Is desktop SOLIDWORKS being replaced by the cloud?
No end date for desktop licences was announced. Management said new SOLIDWORKS customers are now coming in through the cloud offer, and 3DEXPERIENCE and cloud revenue are growing faster than the rest of the business.
How are SOLIDWORKS AI features paid for?
LEO in SOLIDWORKS uses metered tokens and needs a 3DEXPERIENCE connection. On the call, management said the agentic platform stays priced per user, with usage measured in units of work and token consumption.
Does the ArisGlobal acquisition affect SOLIDWORKS users?
Not directly. ArisGlobal is a life sciences software company, and the deal strengthens Dassault's medical and pharma business. Dassault expects it to add about 2 points to fourth-quarter revenue growth.
What should SOLIDWORKS teams do after these results?
Map licences and data locations, keep local copies of released files, set rules and budgets for AI, read terms at renewal, and keep dated proof of your designs, for example with a BORIS for SOLIDWORKS certificate of ownership.