Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, architecture 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 $7.4 billion
Industry Application software
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $2.3 billion
Management CEO Carl Bass (since 2006)
CFO Mark Hawkins (since 2009)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 13.1%
Cash/Debt $1.5 billion / $0
Competitors Adobe Systems
Dassault Systemes
Parametric Technology

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 92% of the 799 members who have rated Autodesk believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.   

Earlier this week, one of those Fools, Archadam1, offered some special insight into Autodesk's competitive edge:

As a professional user of Autodesk software … I can honestly say that Autodesk has the most advanced professional software for the [architecture, engineering, and construction] industry. Revit in particular is light years ahead of any other BIM technology, and pushing the entire industry in a more efficient direction. ... Their subscription costs are high, but as with any technology, it costs to be on the cutting edge, and we are quickly coming into a world where software is becoming much more $$ than hardware, so it really is to be expected.

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