4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Autodesk

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, design and engineering software specialist Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Autodesk's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Autodesk facts

Headquarters (Founded)	San Rafael, Calif. (1982)
Market Cap	$5.8 billion
Industry	Application software
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$1.94 billion
Management	CEO Carl Bass (since May 2006) CFO Mark Hawkins (since April 2009)
Return on Capital (Average, Past 3 Years)	20.1%
Cash / Debt	$936.4 million / $0
Competitors	Parametric Technology (Nasdaq: PMTC  ) Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) Google (Nasdaq: GOOG  )
CAPS Members Bullish on ADSK Also Bullish on	General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  )
CAPS Members Bearish on ADSK Also Bearish on	Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF  )

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 93% of the 781 members who have rated Autodesk believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include desmondvernon and NollierCapMgmt.

A few months ago desmondvernon offered some firsthand insight into Autodesk's advantages: "I use AutoCAD on a daily basis at work in the heavy construction business. In my opinion no other software comes close to providing the flexibility and functionality that I need from drafting/design application."

In an earlier pitch, NollierCapMgmt also advised Fools to profit by design:

[Autodesk] is a cash cow which generates a ton of [free cash flow]. Additionally, it sports no debt. Its competitive advantage or moat is its [Computer Aided Design] software which helps to promote high switching costs. [Autodesk] is very good at annuitizing its business. However, it is not immune or insulated from the global recession but will weather the storm far better than its competitors.

What do you think about Autodesk, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!