Maybe it's the fact that they've abandoned using the term GIS or geospatial or maybe it's the malaise in the global economic building slowdown but the company has taken an enormous hit in the stock market. The stock is off nearly 50% of its value since hitting a 52-week high of $46.26 per share back in May. Last Friday, the company reported earnings of $546 million beating analysts expectations of $540 million. Cash flow was up $20 million over Q2 2010!
Perhaps they should've never abandoned GIS?! GIS is hot; civil engineering is ... not. I'm being facetious, of course, but what made the market turn ugly on ADSK? Financially, the company is stable and putting money in the bank. Quarterly earnings are strong as are earnings per share.
The market has a strange way of anticipating bad news. Perhaps the market anticipates that the global economy will hit the brakes again and building, hence technology that supports building design, will take a breather.
As a geospatial technology publication we don't hear much from Autodesk these days. GIS is a four-letter word to ADSK. I simply don't get it given that such a huge number of AutoCAD users are mapping professionals. Actually, you can still find mention of AutoCAD Map products but you have to dig deep.
