By Joe Stonor

Capgemini led a basket of European software stocks lower after New York-listed peer Accenture cut its guidance, spooking investors in a sector that has already sold off sharply this year.

Capgemini shares slid as much as 8.4% after the guidance was published, before paring losses slightly to fall 7.8%. German giant SAP lost 3.1%, while London Stock Exchange Group stock fell 5.2%. London-listed Sage and Dutch software group Wolters Kluwer fell 4.1% and 3.4%, respectively.

Dublin-headquartered Accenture said before the opening bell Thursday that it expects fiscal 2026 revenue growth of between 3% and 4% in local currency, compared with prior guidance of 3% to 5%.

It also said third-quarter new bookings slid 3% in local currency to $19.32 billion compared with the prior-year period.

Accenture shares tumbled more than 14% in premarket trade.

Thursday's selloff deepens losses for a sector that has already fallen sharply this year. Capgemini and Wolters Kluwer shares have both lost around 35% of their value year to date, while SAP--among the most valuable companies in Germany--dropped around 34% over the same period.

Despite a brief software rally in early June, the sector is struggling to break free from fears that competition from increasingly advanced artificial-intelligence agents will eat into companies' margins.

Software leaders are struggling to convince wary investors that their businesses are safe from the march of AI, Franklin Templeton portfolio manager Craig Cameron said.

"It's very hard to disprove the negative if you're a software company in today's world that your business might not exist in five years. That's never really been a risk for those companies before," Cameron said.

Write to Joe Stonor at josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 18, 2026 08:29 ET (12:29 GMT)

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