Dassault analysis: A high price for an unrivalled technology that underpins an entire industry

A great company that escapes the attention of investors and could pocket any competitor? An unrivalled product and market leadership that underpins an entire industry? That's exactly what Dassault is!

What struck me about Dassault Systemes $DSY.PA (or DASTY) was how this company managed to mostly stay out of the investors' interest for a long time. I didn't know about it for a long time either. The company was a non-trivial part of Dassault itself, and was made into a separate company so that it could concentrate fully on 3D design software - where it could be relatively easily considered the market leader, by all accounts.

But first, a quick introduction:

Dassault Systèmes is a French software company focused on developing and selling CAD/CAM/CAE software solutions for industrial companies and developers. The company was founded in 1981 by French engineer Francis Bernard and his team of developers.

Today, Dassault Systèmes is one of the world's largest manufacturers of 3D software…