Autodesk Results Top Estimates; Cuts Outlook

(RTTNews) - Design software maker Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) said Tuesday after the markets closed that its first quarter profit fell 32.5% from last year, as higher costs and expenses more than offset a 9% increase in revenue.

However, the company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.

At the same time, the company gave a disappointing outlook for the current quarter and lowered its full year forecast.

"We had a solid start to the year with good progress on our business model transition," said Carl Bass, Autodesk president and CEO. "We added 95,000 subscriptions during the quarter, with approximately half coming from new subscription types. Over the course of the next two years we expect to transition the vast majority of our offerings to subscription, which provides our customers with greater flexibility and a better user experience."

Autodesk shares are currently losing 2.21% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $57.52, down 88 cents or 1.51%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $48.38 to $65.00.

For the first quarter ended April 30, 2015, the San Rafael, California-based company reported net income of $19.1 million or $0.08 per share, compared to $28.3 million or $0.12 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the first quarter was $69.1 million or $0.30 per share, compared to $73.8 million or $0.32 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.28 per share for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Operating margin for the quarter narrowed to 3% from 7% a year earlier, while adjusted operating margin shrank to 15% from 17% last year.

Net revenue for the first quarter rose 9% to $646.5 million from $592.5 million in the same quarter last year. Fifteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $636.56 million for the first quarter.

Revenue from Flagship products remained flat with last year at $299 million, while revenue from Suites increased 14% to $240 million in the first quarter.

Total billings for the quarter increased 3% year-over-year. Total subscriptions increased by about 95,000 from the previous quarter.

The company's deferred revenue at the end of the first quarter was $1.15 billion, an increase of 20% from a year earlier.

Looking forward to the second quarter, the company forecasts revenue of $600 million to $620 million, a net loss of $0.10 to $0.05 per share and adjusted earnings of $0.14 to $0.19 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.32 per share on revenue of $649.99 million for the second quarter.

For the full year fiscal 2016, the company now expects revenue growth of 2% to 4%, earnings of $0.00 to $0.15 per share and adjusted earnings of $0.95 to $1.10 per share. Previously, the company expected revenue growth of 3% to 5%, earnings of $0.10 to $0.25 per share and adjusted earnings of $1.05 to $1.20 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $1.17 per share on revenue growth of 4.50% for the full year.