Autodesk's CFO Is Leaving the Company on a High Note

Shares of engineering software expert Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) reached new all-time highs on Wednesday after a strong third-quarter earnings report. The company crushed Wall Street's expectations across the board and raised its full-year guidance targets.

Sales for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 rose 13% to $952 million. Your average analyst would have settled for $942 million. On the bottom line, adjusted earnings increased by 33% to $1.04 per diluted share. Here, the analyst consensus pointed to $0.96 per share. Management's original guidance for this period targeted adjusted earnings of roughly $0.94 per share on revenue near $937 million.

In other numerical news, Autodesk's GAAP operating margin landed at 18% -- the highest reading in more than 10 years, completing a dramatic rebound from negative operating margins in 2016 and 2017. Furthermore, Autodesk saw free cash flows rise 29% year over year to $340 million. The company has now completed a strategic transformation that replaced permanent software licenses with recurring subscription fees for Autodesk's cloud-based solutions and services. The shift was painful at first, but should reap generous dividends in the long run.

Source Fool.com