Many firms start their fiscal year on 1 Jan; others (like upFront.eZine) start 1 Feb for tax purposes. But woe to those who thought delaying by one month was clever. For this year it comes back to bite them.
The 1-Jan firms report their Q3 earnings to 30 Sept, and their reports escape the financial bloodbath called "October 2008." Like PTC.
The 1-Feb firms report 31 Oct, and so their Q3 reports include the collapse the sales during October. Like Autodesk.
Not that the 1-Jan firms are homefree. In three months, their Q4 reports will likely be as wreckage strewn across the virtual floor of NASDAQ.
MSCS
In light of these prelim remarks, I'll note that 1-Jan'er MSC.Software reports an 11% increase in Q3 revenues over a year ago. After 45 years in the biz, ceo Bill Weyand figures he knows how his firm will be saved from the storm, because customers will want...
...to improve productivity by reducing physical prototype testing in order to save costs, speed time to market and accelerate product innovation.
Still, there is only so much productivity improvement to go around:
However, we believe that a prolonged economic downturn could adversely impact our customers, IT spending patterns, and thereby our business as well.
Looking at the software firm's revenue sources, I find the split interesting:
Total revenue -- $63.7 million
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Maintenance -- $34.6 million
Software -- $21.5 million
Services revenue -- $7.6 million
Just 1/3 of revenue comes from selling software licenses.
Ralph,
Unlike other products (like Microsoft Office, since you compared Microsoft and Autodesk stocks once, if I remember correctly), the market around a CAD product or a PLM solution requires a good amount of customizations, integrations, and the works before it actually sees its user for the first time. Those things have numbers attached to them as well. Adding that into the mix would dilute the numbers even more.
Posted by: Sid | Nov 05, 2008 at 09:42 AM