In the first three months of the year, the French group posted revenue of €5.55bn, compared with €5.53bn a year earlier, but the currency effect is eating into this symbolic growth. "We had a first quarter that was slightly better than expected, in a macroeconomic and geopolitical environment that remains challenging," said CEO Aiman Ezzat. In absolute terms, performance remains weak with stagnant activity, but it is the relative performance that matters most at present.

The annual targets have been confirmed, suggesting to the market that the group's visibility is not so bad, even if the targets themselves are not very ambitious. It's always relative and absolute. Capgemini is therefore forecasting revenue growth at constant exchange rates of between -2% and +2%, an operating margin of between 13.3% and 13.5%, and organic free cash flow of around €1.9bn.

Capgemini has significantly outperformed the market over the long term, but the last 12 months have been difficult due to concerns about the impact of the AI boom on future business.

Stronger than expected, with positive mentions for the US and AI

"Capgemini only provides general information in the first quarter, but the results are better than expected," summarizes Charles Brennan, analyst at Jefferies. He believes that this should not change investor sentiment in the sector in the long term, but the immediate reaction is clear: Capgemini is worth 8% more than the previous day on the stock market, with its share price hovering around €141 in morning trading in Paris.

Analysts appreciated the strong performance in the United States, which was not a given, and the father of all indicators, the ratio of orders to billings, which improved to 1.06. Capgemini conveniently mentioned that this upturn benefited from the development of contracts related to generative and agentic AI, which accounted for more than 6% of new orders.