Keep holding these software leaders

Article Excerpt

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $222.02 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 29.1 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; No dividends paid) makes FICO Scores. It’s the dominant software program used by U.S. businesses to evaluate customer creditworthiness. Fair Isaac also profits by selling programs that help credit-card issuers control fraud and analyze the spending patterns of cardholders. For the second quarter ended June 30, 2018, revenue rose 12.3%, to $257.9 million from $228.4 million a year earlier. Sales of computer applications (54% of the total) rose 6%. Meanwhile, sales of credit-scoring programs (36%) jumped 32%, while sales of analytics software (9%) fell 7%. Fair Isaac earned $47.1 million, or $1.51 a share. That’s up 25.9% from $37.4 million, or $1.16, a year earlier. The company spent $32.5 million (or 12.6% of its quarterly revenue) in the latest three months. That’s up 16.7% from $27.8 million (12.2%) a year earlier. It also includes new spending on analytics and artifical intelligence to help clients identify where…