Autodesk Stock Price, News & Analysis

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is a multinational software company that develops and sells design and make technology used by designers, engineers, builders, and creators. Founded in 1982, Autodesk is known for pioneering computer-aided design (CAD) with its AutoCAD product and has since expanded into a broad range of software offerings for architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment. According to the company, its Design and Make Platform helps customers "design and make anything," from the buildings people live and work in, to the cars they drive, the bridges they travel over, the products they rely on, and the movies and games that inspire them.

Autodesk trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ADSK and operates in the Software Publishers industry within the information sector. The company describes itself as a global provider of Design and Make technology, with products and platforms that unlock the power of data to accelerate insights and automate processes. Autodesk states that this technology is intended to help customers create the world around them and deliver better outcomes for their businesses and for the planet.

Business focus and product families

Autodesk reports its business around two primary groupings it calls the Design Business and the Make Business, as well as several product families. The Design Business represents the combination of maintenance, product subscriptions, and Enterprise Business Agreements (EBAs). Main products in this category include, but are not limited to, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, Industry Collections, Revit, Inventor, Maya, and 3ds Max. Certain products, such as computer-aided manufacturing solutions, incorporate both Design and Make functionality but are classified as Design.

The Make Business represents certain cloud-based product subscriptions. Main products in this category include, but are not limited to, Autodesk Build, BIM Collaborate Pro, BuildingConnected, Fusion, and Flow Production Tracking. Certain products, such as Fusion, incorporate both Design and Make functionality and are classified as Make. Autodesk notes that these groupings reflect how it addresses specific industry or market needs, customer types, or use cases, or how products share core underlying technology or deployment models.

Autodesk also organizes offerings into four primary product families: Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO); AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT; Manufacturing (MFG); and Media and Entertainment (M&E). These families represent groupings of related products or solutions that address particular industry or market needs or use cases.

Design and Make Platform and industry reach

Across its communications, Autodesk emphasizes its role as a Design and Make Platform provider. The company states that designers, engineers, builders, and creators trust Autodesk to help them design and make anything, and that its platform unlocks the power of data to accelerate insights and automate processes. Autodesk positions this platform as supporting the design and creation of buildings, infrastructure, vehicles, consumer products, and digital media such as films and games.

Autodesk highlights that its products have been used in high-profile projects and media. The company notes that Autodesk products have been used in some of the world's most iconic landmarks, such as the Burj Khalifa, and in well-known movie titles like Avatar. In media and entertainment, Autodesk has also introduced Autodesk Flow Studio (formerly Wonder Studio), an AI-powered toolset that automates complex visual effects (VFX) tasks like motion capture, camera tracking, and character animation. Autodesk Flow Studio allows users to insert computer-generated characters into live-action scenes and export AI-generated assets such as clean plates, 3D scenes, alpha masks, and camera tracks to tools like Maya, Blender, or Unreal Engine for further editing.

Business model, subscriptions, and key metrics

Autodesk’s disclosures describe a business model centered on subscriptions and recurring revenue. The company offers Product Subscriptions, which provide customers with term-based access to 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software tools. These subscriptions typically combine desktop and cloud functionality and support device-independent, collaborative design workflows. A Subscription Plan comprises term-based product subscriptions, cloud service offerings, and EBAs, and is described as a hybrid of desktop software and cloud functionality that allows customers to use Autodesk software anytime and get access to the latest updates to previous versions.

Autodesk also offers maintenance plans, which provide customers with an option to obtain productivity benefits from new releases and enhancements when and if released during the term of their contracts. Under these plans, customers are eligible to receive unspecified upgrades when and if available, as well as technical support, with maintenance revenue recognized over the term of the agreements.

The company uses several key performance metrics to monitor the strength of its recurring business, including billings, recurring revenue, and net revenue retention rate (NR3). Billings are defined as total revenue plus the net change in deferred revenue from the beginning to the end of the period. Recurring revenue consists of revenue from traditional maintenance plans, subscription plan offerings, and certain other revenue, excluding subscription revenue related to third-party products. Net revenue retention rate measures the year-over-year change in recurring revenue for the population of customers that existed one year ago.

Cloud services, consumption options, and enterprise agreements

Autodesk describes a range of cloud-related offerings and commercial models. Cloud Service Offerings are individual term-based offerings deployed through web browser technologies or in a hybrid software and cloud configuration. Some cloud service offerings are bundled with other product offerings and are not captured as separate cloud service offerings.

The company also offers Enterprise Business Agreements (EBAs), which provide enterprise customers with token-based access to a broad pool of Autodesk products over a defined contract term. Another option, called Flex, is described as a pay-as-you-go consumption model that allows customers to pre-purchase tokens to access any product available with Flex for a daily rate.

Autodesk’s Industry Collections are combinations of products and services that target specific user objectives and support workflows for those objectives. The company lists three such collections: Autodesk Architecture, Engineering and Construction Collection; Autodesk Product Design and Manufacturing Collection; and Autodesk Media and Entertainment Collection.

Geographic and segment reporting

In its financial reporting, Autodesk presents net revenue by product type (Design, Make, and Other), by geographic area (Americas, EMEA, and APAC), and by product family (AECO, AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, MFG, M&E, and Other). This structure reflects the company’s view of its business across different regions and solution categories. Autodesk also discloses Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO), defined as the sum of total short-term, long-term, and unbilled deferred revenue, with current RPO representing the amount of revenue the company expects to recognize in the next twelve months.

Headquarters, corporate structure, and governance

Autodesk, Inc. is incorporated in the United States and lists its principal offices in San Francisco, California in its SEC filings. The company’s common stock is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Autodesk files periodic reports and current reports such as Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. Autodesk’s board of directors and its committees, including the Audit Committee, are elected and approved by stockholders at the company’s annual meeting of stockholders, as described in its proxy statements and related Form 8-K filings.

Autodesk uses its investors.autodesk.com website as a means of disclosing material non-public information, announcing upcoming investor conferences, and complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. The company also notes that Autodesk is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries and affiliates in the USA and/or other countries, and that other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

AI, media and entertainment, and partnerships

Autodesk has highlighted its work in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in media and entertainment and design and make workflows. The company has introduced Autodesk Flow Studio, an AI-powered VFX and animation tool, and has described its efforts in building AI-powered workflows that automate complex tasks so creators can focus on storytelling. Autodesk has also discussed building industry-specific foundation models and products capable of understanding and reasoning about 2D and 3D geometry, design and make data, complex structures, and physical behavior.

In addition, Autodesk has entered into partnerships that showcase its Design and Make Platform in real-world environments. For example, Autodesk announced a multi-year partnership with the Kraft Group in which Autodesk will be the Official Design and Make Platform for the New England Patriots. As part of this partnership, the Patriots and the Kraft Group plan to implement Autodesk Construction Cloud to support long-term infrastructure projects, facility upgrades, and large-scale real estate developments, and to support events at Gillette Stadium.

Autodesk has also launched a Team USA campaign as the Official Design and Make Platform of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA. The company states that Autodesk technology plays a role in designing and making the infrastructure of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and in supporting LA28’s plan to adapt existing or build temporary infrastructure rather than constructing new permanent venues.

Financial reporting and non-GAAP measures

Autodesk regularly reports its financial results through press releases and Form 8-K filings. These releases include GAAP results as well as non-GAAP financial measures such as non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP earnings per share, and free cash flow. The company explains that it uses non-GAAP measures for internal budgeting, resource allocation, and evaluating period-to-period comparisons, and that these measures exclude certain items such as stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of developed technologies and purchased intangibles, restructuring and other exit costs, acquisition-related costs, gains and losses on strategic investments and dispositions, and certain income tax adjustments.

Autodesk emphasizes that non-GAAP measures are meant to be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, GAAP financial measures. The company provides reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in its financial disclosures and cautions that non-GAAP measures have limitations and may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Risk factors and forward-looking statements

In its filings and press releases, Autodesk includes forward-looking statements and outlines a range of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. These factors include, among others, the company’s strategy to develop and introduce new products and services and move to platforms and capabilities; global economic and political conditions; geopolitical tensions and armed conflicts; costs and challenges associated with strategic acquisitions and investments; dependency on international revenue and operations; competition and rapidly evolving technological changes; fluctuations in financial results and key metrics; transitions in billing models; reliance on a small number of solutions for a substantial portion of net revenue; social and ethical issues relating to the use of AI; security and privacy risks; regulatory issues; currency exchange rate fluctuations; debt service obligations; and market volatility affecting the company’s investment portfolio.

Autodesk notes that further information on potential factors that could affect its financial results is included in its Form 10-K and subsequent Forms 10-Q on file with the SEC, and that it disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Use cases and impact

According to Autodesk’s public statements, its technology is used by architects, engineers, builders, manufacturers, media and entertainment professionals, and other creators. The company highlights use cases ranging from the design and construction of buildings and infrastructure to the creation of products and digital content. Autodesk’s Design and Make Platform is presented as a way to connect data across workflows, accelerate insights, and automate processes, with the goal of enabling customers to design and make a better world and improve outcomes for their businesses and for the planet.