Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK ) left out an important piece of information in its second-quarter report: its earnings. Like many other tech companies, this design software maker is voluntarily auditing its option grants and has withheld its net income figures as a result. The good news is that -- unlike many other enterprise software companies -- the company is growing its business nicely. Well, at least its top line.
In the second quarter, revenues increased 21% to $450 million. For the third quarter, management forecasts revenues of $450 million to $460 million and full-year results at $1.82 billion to $1.85 billion.
Autodesk has a diverse portfolio of design software that spans industries like construction, manufacturing, infrastructure, and digital media. Customers can prototype, manage, and share designs for things like skyscrapers, schools, machines, and even animated movies. Key benefits for customers include higher quality, faster time-to-market, and lower costs.
In fact, the products meet the needs for Fortune 100 customers, as well as medium- and small-sized businesses. Because of its broad customer base, Autodesk does not have the problem of relying on high-price license deals to grow its business.
The company has several catalysts for growth. For example, it is moving from 2-D to 3-D design, which increases value for its customers. This is getting lots of customer uptake, as sales for this segment increased 37% to $91 million (constituting 20% of total revenues).
Next, with the massive growth in countries like China and India, there is likely to be long-term demand for Autodesk's infrastructure products. Revenue in this segment increased 32% and represents about 13% of total revenues.
It's true -- as indicated in a recent article by Fool colleague Anders Bylund -- that there is serious competition. Examples include Parametric Technology (Nasdaq: PMTC ) , Intergraph (Nasdaq: INGR ) , Avid Technology (Nasdaq: AVID ) , Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE ) , and Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL ) . Even Google (Nasdaq: GOOG ) is edging into the space with its recent acquisition of SketchUp.
However, Autodesk continues to improve its product offerings, with both a strong engineering team and an army of over 2,500 third-party developers. The upshot is a powerful competitive advantage.
All in all, this company is extremely well positioned to capitalize on the trends in design automation. Unfortunately, the uncertainty regarding the option investigation is an unquantifiable risk -- and without any bottom-line figures, the rest of us are left guessing. So, the best course for investors is to wait for resolution of the investigation and then make a decision with all the key financial information.
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Fool contributor
Tom Taulli
does not own shares of any company mentioned in this article.
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