A good quarter for AEC in a few markets could not offset weaker demand in most of the world.
Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) today reported a flat third quarter, with revenue of $548 million, $600,000 less than reported in the third quarter a year ago. The company says weaker demand in most markets led to the flat results.
“Our revenue results were disappointing and were primarily caused by a weakening demand environment,” says Carl Bass, Autodesk president and CEO. “While we experienced pockets of relative strength in the U.S., northern Europe, and Russia, most other markets around the world slowed during the quarter, most notably emerging markets.”
Net income for the third quarter of fiscal year 2013 (ended October 31, 2012) was $29.3 million, down 59% from $72.8 million a year earlier.
Revenue by regions:
- EMEA revenue was down 3% to $196 million compared year-to-year, up 3% on a constant currency basis. Autodesk says only Northern Europe saw gains during the quarter.
- Americas revenue was up 4% to $209 million, compared to 3Q12. New construction activity in the US was largely responsible for the modest gain.
- Asia/Pacific revenue was down 3% to $142 million from a year earlier, and down 3% on a constant currency basis.
Revenue from the group of nations Autodesk calls Emerging Economies dropped 9% to $80 million from a year earlier; 5% on a constant currency basis. Revenue from emerging economies represented 15% of total revenue in the third quarter.
Revenue by market segments:
- Platform Solutions and Emerging Business (PSEB) segment (which includes AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, and consumer apps) fell 2% to $205 million from a year earlier.
- Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) business segment was up 7% to $163 million from a year earlier.
- Manufacturing business segment revenue was $132 million, down 1% compared to the third quarter last year, despite the introduction of the much-heralded PLM 360 for cloud-based product lifecycle management.
- Media and Entertainment business segment revenue was to $48 million, off 9% from a year ago. The transition to mobile gaming still seems to be dampening sales.
Revenue from Flagship products (a list of major titles including AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, and Maya) fell 4% to $298 million, compared to the third quarter last year. Revenue from Suites was $166 million, up 10% from a year ago as the user base becomes familiar with the concept. Revenue from New and Adjacent products decreased 3% to $84 million, compared to the third quarter last year, showing fewer companies were adding seats of software already in use.
The company says it recorded a $10 million one-time transaction a year ago from the Asia/Pacific region, related to license compliance, which impacted revenue. In addition. Autodesk also says superstorm Sandy negatively impacted business during the last few days of the quarter. Generally speaking, large natural disasters in the developed world mean increased business for AEC software companies in the following quarters as rebuilding efforts gear up.
Cash per share on October 31, 2012 was $5.84, up significantly from $4.04 three months ago and reversing a downward trend of the last four quarters. Autodesk made two boutique acquisitions during the quarter, both to boost its new cloud-based PLM 360 line.
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L. Stephen Wolfe, P.E., a contributing analyst for Jon Peddie Research, provided research for this report.
