Topic: Growth Stocks

Autodesk Inc. $33 – Nasdaq symbol ADSK

AUTODESK INC. $33 (Nasdaq symbol ADSK; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 230.9 million; Market cap: $7.6 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) is the largest maker of design software used in construction and engineering. It has now developed what it calls its “sustainability analysis dashboard”. This lets engineers and architects measure the environmental impact of design features.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building council, provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Autodesk’s dashboard software lets users measure how many points a specific design feature will give them towards LEED certification.

In the fiscal year ended January 31, 2008, Auto Desk earned $1.88 a share before unusual items, up 22.9% from $1.53 in the prior year. Revenue rose 22.2%, to $2.2 billion from $1.8 billion. It spent a high 22% of its fiscal 2008 revenue on research.

Autodesk now trades at 17.9 times this year’s forecast earnings of $1.84 a share. That’s reasonable in light of its market share and growth prospects.

Autodesk is a buy.

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