Bentley Systems, BILL, and Autodesk Stocks Trade Down, What You Need To Know

What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after quarterly results from two major companies raised fresh questions about AI's impact on the sector. 

IBM declined about 10% after reporting slower Q1 revenue growth, with weakness in its software business. ServiceNow also fell after noting that delayed deals in the Middle East, tied to the Iran conflict, would affect its subscription revenue growth. NOW also expects recent investments in AI to weigh on margins in the near term. The sector-wide move reflected an ongoing debate. 

Some investors have questioned whether AI tools will reduce demand for traditional software or change existing license models. The results were likely read through that lens, which contributed to selling across software names beyond the two companies that reported. Though neither cause was strictly about AI suggesting the contagion was thematic not fundamental. Also, given ServiceNow was viewed as AI-resilient, its miss weakened the "safe SaaS" case, causing some analysts to lower their estimates.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Vertical Software company Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) fell 7.3%. Is now the time to buy Bentley Systems? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Finance and Accounting Software company BILL (NYSE:BILL) fell 7%. Is now the time to buy BILL? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Design Software company Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) fell 7%. Is now the time to buy Autodesk? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Bentley Systems (BSY)

Bentley Systems’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 13 days ago when the stock dropped 7.5% on the news that a UBS downgrade of ServiceNow (NOW) sent shockwaves through the sector, exacerbating a sell-off that began the previous day. 

Investors were increasingly rattled by the "seat compression" narrative, where AI-driven automation reduces the number of human users required for traditional enterprise software, directly threatening the per-seat revenue models of giants like Salesforce and Adobe. This sentiment was fueled by the rapid rise of AI-native competitors and "vibe coding" startups that can replicate complex features at a fraction of the legacy cost.

Bentley Systems is down 15.1% since the beginning of the year, and at $32.40 per share, it is trading 44.8% below its 52-week high of $58.72 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Bentley Systems’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $638.01.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE: The Next Palantir? One satellite company captures images of every point on Earth. Every single day. The Pentagon wants it. Hedge funds are using it to beat earnings. You’ve probably never heard of it.

This is what the early days of Palantir looked like before it became a $437 billion giant. Same playbook. Different technology. If you missed Palantir, you need to see this. Claim The Stock Ticker for Free HERE.