Buy Autodesk, hold on to Fair Isaac

Article Excerpt

AUTODESK INC. $33.46 (Nasdaq symbol ADSK; SI Rating: Average) (515-507-5000; www.autodesk.com; Shares outstanding: 229.3 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion) gets nearly 90% of its revenue from its AutoCAD software, which is the world’s top-selling computer-aided design program. About four million architects and engineers in over 100 countries use AutoCAD to design and test new buildings and products. Autodesk gets the remaining 10% of its revenue from programs that filmmakers use to create special effects. In its second quarter, which ended July 31, 2010, Autodesk earned $85 million, or $0.36 a share. That’s up 50.4% from $56.5 million, or $0.24 a share, a year earlier. These figures exclude several unusual items, including costs related to Autodesk’s restructuring plan. Under this plan, the company cut over 10% of its workforce and merged certain facilities. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.27 a share. Revenue rose 14.0%, to $472.8 million from $414.9 million. The company saw sharply higher revenue in all…