Wrapping up 2020 earnings with Ansys, Autodesk, and Bentley
I have been trying to get to writing long-form pieces about how 2020 ended for Ansys, Autodesk, and Bentley ever since the companies reported but it’s been crazybusy. We’re nearing the end of March, which means companies will start their earnings cycles all over again...
4 on a Friday: More on Bentley+Seequent, Markforged to go public, US infrastructure grade upped from D to C+, and Renishaw is for sale
Time for a recap of the week, news bits I don't have time to write about in more detail. Let's start with Bentley. Late yesterday, Bentley announced that it would be acquiring Seequent, maker of solutions for modeling the earth deep below the surface; I wrote about it...
Bentley acquires Seequent for ~$1.05 Billion
Bentley just announced that it was acquiring Seequent, a "leader in software for geological and geophysical modeling, geotechnical stability, and cloud services for geodata management, visibility, and collaboration". I need to learn more, but Bentley says "Seequent...
Altair reports strong Q4, cautiously optimistic about 2021
Last week, Altair announced results for Q4 that closed 2020 on a high note, beating revenue guidance by a lot, and setting up a solid 2021. The details: Total revenue in Q4 was $133.4 million, up 8% as reported (up 5% in constant currencies, cc)Software product...
Bentley builds construction portfolio with E7
A couple of days ago, amid all of the earnings reports (and ahead of its own, on Tuesday), Bentley Systems announced that it has acquired E7, an Australia-based maker of project delivery software for heavy civil construction. E7's platform includes mobile and web apps...
4 on a Friday: DS invests in AVSimulation, Newforma acquires, more on Cadence+Numeca, Siemens’ MindSphere on Red Hat OpenShift
It's been another busy week of earnings and other PLMish news. Here are some bits and pieces I didn't have the time to write about more fully: Dassault Systèmes invested €10 million for a 15% stake in AVSimulation, joining Oktal Sydac and Renault which own,...
Altair acquires Flow Simulator & Autodesk acquires Innovyze
Goodness. Not even 7:30AM here on the US East Coast and the news is flying fast. Autodesk just announced it will acquire Innovyze, a leader in "water infrastructure software", for $1 billion (net of cash subject to working capital and tax closing adjustments). Why?...
Hexagon’s 2020 showed sequential improvement — should continue in 2021
Continuing the earnings catchup, today we tune into Hexagon, the parent company of brands such as MSC Software, Leica, and PPM (fka Intergraph PPM). In all, 2020 was a mixed year for the company, which sells quite a bit of hardware into manufacturing and other...
DS’s needle moved in 2020, mostly in life sciences — and SolidWorks is a billion-dollar brand!
Earlier this month, Dassault Systèmes (DS) reported results for its fourth quarter and, therefore, the full year of 2020. First a quick recap, then a bit about what it all might mean, and then some reflections on this month's 3DExperience World (aka SolidWorks World)...
5 on a Friday: Rescale, Lectra+Gerber, Hexagon’s R-evolution, C3D Labs’ 2020 results, and SAP’s no-code acquisition
It's been a week. Let's wrap it up with a few newsy tidbits that didn't make it into full blog posts. Rescale, the hybrid HPC cloud platform for simulation closed $50m in Series C funding --announced last week, not sure when it happened -- from investors including...
Why so many CADs? And can I switch between them?
I am often asked, especially by people who are new to the CAD world, what the differences are between all of the CAD tools on the market. What's the best? And what happens if I don't like the product I started with -- can I switch? There are no easy answers --to any...
Schneider Electric reports Q4, talks AVEVA
Schneider Electric reported Q4 results today -- you can see them in full here -- that also touched on how important AVEVA is to the overall product menu. A couple of nuggets from the press release and investor call presentation: Schneider Electric's fiscal 2020...
ESI’s 2020 results show continued improvement
ESI yesterday announced preliminary results for its fiscal fourth quarter -- and they show sequential improvement that leads CEO Cristel de Rouvray to moderate optimism for the year ahead. First, the results: In Q4, total revenue was €30 million, down 10% as reported...
Lectra to buy Gerber Technologies
This is big: Lectra has announced that it plans to acquire Gerber Technology for "an upfront payment of 175 million euros – through a combination of cash and debt – plus 5 million newly issued Lectra shares to ... Gerber Technology’s sole shareholder". As I understand...
Siemens’ FQ1 saw solid contributions from EDA, Mendix but also PLM caution
Last week was a busy earnings week and we're going to spend some time this week trying to catch up. First off, Siemens announced that its fiscal first-quarter (ended in December) revenue rose 3% to €14 billion, with growth across all four industrial businesses and in...
Nemetschek closed out 2020 with “very positive” Q4
Nemetschek released preliminary results for Q4 this morning and said that it "closed the fiscal year with a very positive fourth quarter" that enabled it to meet its raised annual target for revenue in 2020. More details to come on March 23, but: Total revenue for the...
5 on a Friday: Physna secures investment, AVEVA extends OSI timeline, SAP, AspenTech, and 3D printed organs
A busy, busy week. Here, a quick roundup of what I found interesting this week: Physna closed a $20 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital. Physna uses artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D examination to codify 3D models to create 3D search solutions....
PTC blew past forecasts in FQ1, raises guidance for year
PTC reported results for its fiscal first quarter of 2021, ended December 31, 2020, last night -- and they were pretty darned good. Before we get too excited, though, it's important to note that accounting treatments created some of the better-than-expected growth....
Mostly OT: 5 on a Friday
I can't remember the last time I did one of these --and perhaps they are totally not cool anymore, but then, neither am I. Here are 5 things that defined my week, including a couple of PLMish bits at the end: 1. The Inauguration, no surprise, was a big part of the...
Cadence to acquire NUMECA
And the consolidation continues. Cadence announced this morning that it will acquire NUMECA, maker of the OMNIS CAE framework (though you probably know it for its FINE/Design3D optimization solution and its FINE/Marine virtual towing tank/CFD naval architecture tools...
