Autodesk shares slide south as earnings, sales outlooks fall short
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Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) shares plunged by 11% Friday as investors turned their backs on the design-software company after gave an earnings and sales outlook that was far short of analysts' expectations.
Late Thursday, Autodesk (ADSK) forecast first-quarter earnings of $1.50 to $1.56 a share, excluding one-time items, on revenue in a range of $1.26B to $1.28B. For its entire 2024 fiscal year, Autodesk (ADSK) expects to earn between $6.98 and $7.32 a share, excluding one-time items, on revenue of $5.36B to $5.46B. The company also forecast full-year billings of $5.03B to $5.18B, which would be down between 11% and 13% from its 2023 fiscal year billings.
Along with its outlook, Autodesk (ADSK) reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1.86 a share, excluding one-time items, on sales of $1.32B for the period ending Jan. 31. Wall Street had earlier forecast Autodesk (ADSK) to earn $1.81 a share on sales of $1.31B. Total billings in the quarter rose 28% from a year ago, to $2.12B.
Autodesk (ADSK) Chief Executive Andrew Anagnost said that the company's "demand environment" remained consistent during its fourth quarter as prepares to transition from up-front to annual billings for its multi-year contracts.
On the whole, Wall Street analysts and Seeking Alpha authors both have consensus buy ratings on Autodesk's (ADSK) shares. Seeking Alpha's Quant System, which historically outperforms the stock market, gives Autodesk (ADSK) a rating of hold.