Autodesk Shares Slip Premarket on Disappointing Guidance

By Colin Kellaher

Shares of Autodesk Inc. moved lower in premarket trading Wednesday after the software and services design company posted quarterly results that were mainly in line with Wall Street's expectations but trimmed some key full-year guidance metrics.

The San Francisco company said it now expects full fiscal-year billings of $5.57 billion to $5.67 billion and free cash flow of $1.9 billion to $1.98 billion, down from prior guidance ranges of $5.71 billion to $5.81 billion and $2 billion to $2.08 billion, respectively.

Autodesk said the reduced guidance is mainly due to less demand for multi-year, up-front contracts and more demand for annual contracts than it had expected.

The company also offered fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings guidance below forecasts by analysts polled by FactSet.

In a research note, KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts Jason Celino and Devin Au said they cut their price target on Autodesk shares to $237 from $264 after lowering their fiscal 2023 and 2024 financial estimates for the company.

KeyBanc, which said it took some consolation in Autodesk's newly authorized $5 billion stock buyback, maintained its overweight rating on the stock.

Autodesk shares, which closed Tuesday at $208.90, were recently down 8.4% to $191.30 in premarket trading.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 23, 2022 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT)

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