Money Matters, Simplified.
4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Autodesk
Fri, 10/16/2009 - 14:24 by Brian D. Pacampara
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) |
|
Return on Capital (Average, Past 3 Years) |
20.1% |
|
Cash / Debt |
$936.4 million / $0 |
|
Competitors |
Parametric Technology (Nasdaq: PMTC) |
|
CAPS Members Bullish on ADSK Also Bullish on |
General Electric (NYSE: GE) |
|
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.
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