Autodesk Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Design software maker Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) said Wednesday after the markets closed that its fourth quarter profit fell 28% from last year, as license revenue dropped and costs and expenses rose.

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 forecast first quarter earnings way below analysts' current consensus estimate, but gave an upbeat revenue outlook for the current quarter and the full year.

"We were pleased with our fourth quarter performance, which included strong growth in cash flow from operations, solid growth in deferred revenue, and a significant sequential increase in backlog," said Mark Hawkins, Autodesk executive vice president and CFO.

Autodesk shares are currently gaining 3.98% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $54.72, up 6 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $33.01 to $55.98.

For the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2014, the San Rafael, California-based company reported net income of $53.9 million or $0.23 per share, compared to $74.5 million or $0.32 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the fourth quarter was $93.2 million or $0.40 per share, compared to $120.8 million or $0.53 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.34 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the fourth quarter fell 3.3% to $586.6 million from $606.9 million in the same quarter last year. Sixteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $572.84 million for the fourth quarter.

Revenue from Suites increased 15% to $216 million in the fourth quarter.

The latest quarter results exclude about $30 million of license revenue that was deferred as a result of the company's business model transition. The business model transition was related mainly to flexible license arrangements with certain enterprise customers. In the latest quarter, the business model transition had particular impact on license revenue in the Americas and the AEC business segment.

The company's deferred revenue at the end of the fourth quarter was $901 million, an increase of 8% from a year earlier.

Looking forward to the first quarter, the company forecast revenue of $560 million to $575 million, earnings of $0.01 to $0.04 per share and adjusted earnings of $0.19 to $0.22 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.35 per share on revenue of $550.52 million for the first quarter.

For the full year fiscal 2015, the company forecast revenue growth of 3% to 5%, better than analysts' forecast of a decline of 0.20%.