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Factors Setting the Tone for Autodesk's (ADSK) Q4 Earnings

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Autodesk (ADSK - Free Report) is slated to release fourth-quarter fiscal 2021 results on Feb 25.

The company anticipates to report revenues between $999 million and $1.01 million for the fiscal fourth quarter. It projects non-GAAP earnings to be in the range of $1.04 and $1.10 per share.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter 2021 earnings has remained steady at $1.07 per share over the past 30 days, suggesting an increase of 16.3% from the year-ago quarter reported figure.

Further, the consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $1.01 billion, suggesting an increase of 12.1% from the year-ago quarter reported figure.

Autodesk’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 6.38%.
 
Let’s see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.

Autodesk, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Autodesk, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Autodesk, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Autodesk, Inc. Quote

Factors to Consider

Autodesk’s fiscal fourth-quarter performance is expected to have benefited from robust growth in subscription revenues and rapid adoption of maintenance-to-subscription (M2S) program.

Additionally, steady renewals and strength in new customer billings are expected to have driven top-line growth in the quarter.

Autodesk Construction Cloud has been gaining traction with owners, general contractors and subcontractors across the construction industry, which is expected to have aided top-line growth in the soon to-be reported quarter.

On Dec 16, Autodesk announced that more than 4,000 specialty contractors across all industry segments – from mechanical to earthwork, HVAC, concrete, interior buildouts and more – chose Autodesk Construction Cloud technology for their projects.

During the quarter, Autodesk announced a new set of products — Autodesk Build, Autodesk Quantify and Autodesk BIM Collaborate — for Autodesk Construction Cloud that further connect data, workflows and teams throughout the entire building lifecycle, from design to operations.

Moreover, Autodesk’s investment in Aurigo Software is likely to have helped it to fortify its construction business, in turn, bolstering the top line. Aurigo’s integration with Autodesk Construction Cloud, a powerful portfolio of construction management software and services, gives owners a single end-to-end technology platform for design, planning, construction and operations of infrastructure and private assets.

Meanwhile, the international expansion of BuildingConnected, a construction management solution that centralizes and streamlines the bidding process as well as encompasses the Autodesk Construction Cloud builders network, in the fiscal third quarter is expected to have aided top-line growth in the to-be-reported quarter.

With this international expansion, the BuildingConnected solution is now available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Nonetheless, sluggish growth in Maintenance revenues due to the continued migration of maintenance plan subscriptions to subscription plan might have negatively impacted top-line performance.

Moreover, spending on software is likely to have declined as commercial IT buyers and consumers have cut back on capital spending, in line with declining revenues, profits, market valuations, and employee headcount due to coronavirus-led economic slowdown. The top line is expected to reflect the impact of the decline in spending when the company reports.

Key Developments in Q4

On Nov 24, Autodesk announced the completion of the acquisition of Oslo, Norway-based Spacemaker for $240 million net of cash. The acquisition of Spacemaker provides Autodesk with a powerful platform to drive modern, user-centric automation — powered by AI — and accelerate outcome-based design capabilities for architects.

Additionally, the company announced the future availability of Autodesk Tandem, which brings project data together from its many sources, formats, and phases, to create a data-rich digital hub that tracks asset data from design through operations, a digital twin.

What Our Model Says

According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat.

Autodesk has an Earnings ESP of +2.29% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are a few more companies worth considering as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming releases:

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +23.94% and carries a Zacks Rank of 2, at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Workday, Inc. (WDAY - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.21% and carries a Zacks Rank of 2, currently.

Etsy, Inc. (ETSY - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.75% and currently holds a Zacks Rank of 3.

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