Autodesk Shares Jump 10% as Profit Tops Forecasts

Autodesk posted a quarterly profit slightly above its own forecast as revenue gained 18 percent, and issued a forecast that was above many analyst estimates, lifting its shares by 7 percent.

The engineering software maker said on Thursday second-quarter net income was $89.9 million, or 39 cents per share, compared with $91.6 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose to $619.5 million from $525.9 million, compared with an average analyst estimate of $605.9 million.

The company said it had record revenue in the quarter and it saw good growth in its model-based three-dimensional design solutions, emerging economies and upgrade and maintenance revenue growth.

For its current third quarter, Autodesk said it expects earnings per share before items of 54 cents to 56 cents on revenue of $625 million to $635 million.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 54 cents and revenue of $624 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

For its fourth quarter, Autodesk said it expects a per-share profit of between 64 cents and 68 cents and revenue of $660 million to $680 million. Analysts havebeen expecting a profit of 67 cents a share and revenue of $676 million.

Autodesk said its per-share profit before items in the just-reported second quarter was 56 cents per share.

Analysts had expected a profit of 52 cents, on average.

Shares of Autodesk rose 7 cents to close at $34.35. In extended trade, the stock gained 7 percent to $36.87.

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