What happened
Shares of Autodesk (ADSK 0.15%) outpaced the market last month, rising 20% compared to a 3% increase in the S&P 500, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The boost extended a significant rally for shareholders, who've seen their stock jump over 40% so far in 2018.
So what
Investors celebrated the software specialist's second-quarter earnings report, which was published in late August. That announcement showed a more-than-100% increase in cloud-based subscription services revenue as Autodesk added 119,000 customers to its membership rolls. Expenses increased at a much slower pace, which allowed net loss to narrow to $0.18 per share from $0.66 per share a year ago.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Autodesk is expecting to reach positive cash flow for the full year, powered by healthy billings growth of between 16% and 19%. Management still predicts modest net losses as the shift toward subscription services hurts short-term profits.
But, given the recent stock price rally, investors appear to be hoping for major long-term gains there, along with the more predictable revenue that flows from a subscriber base that's sitting at just under 4 million members today.
