Autodesk's Outlook Has Several Moving Parts, But 7 Analysts Are Raising Forecasts

Shares of Autodesk Inc ADSK were climbing in early trading on Friday, after the company reported higher-than-expected results for the fourth quarter.

The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the release.

• Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan maintained a Sell rating, while raising the price target from $180 to $230.
• RBC Capital Markets analyst Matthew Hedberg reiterated an Outperform rating, while lifting the price target from $290 to $320.
• Stifel analyst Adam Borg reaffirmed a Buy rating, while raising the price target from $265 to $316.
• BMO Capital Markets analyst Daniel Jester maintained a Market Perform rating, while lifting the price target from $232 to $293.
• KeyBanc analyst Jason Celino reiterated an Overweight rating, while raising the price target from $275 to $320.
• Mizuho Securities analyst Siti Panigrahi reaffirmed a Buy rating, while lifting the price target from $220 to $270.
• Piper Sandler analyst Clarke Jeffries reiterated a Neutral rating, while raising the price target from $234 to $260.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

Goldman Sachs: Autodesk delivered a solid quarter, with revenue, billings, earnings and free cash slows higher than the consensus estimates, Rangan said. While the company guided to higher-than-expected revenue for fiscal 2025, its earnings guidance came in below, he added.

The company had the record number of deals of more than $100,000 and over $1M in construction accounts in the quarter, the analyst further stated.

RBC Capital Markets: “Overall, we thought it was a solid quarter that did a good job of moving past the introduction of another transition and a debatable outlook provided last quarter,” Hedberg wrote in a note. Autodesk’s “story has a much better “feel” than a quarter ago,” he added.

“While there remain moving parts around the transaction pricing model transition, we come away with more confidence around the opportunity and that FCF bottomed in FY/24 and should mechanically rebuild going forward,” the analyst further stated.

Stifel: Autodesk reported solid results for the fourth quarter that “checked all the boxes,” Borg said. The upside was driven by “early renewals and up-front revenue from EBAs/Federal,” he added.

“Importantly, Autodesk offered transparency around organic growth given many moving parts (with normalized revenue growth of 9.5%-11.5% Y/Y),” the analyst wrote.

BMO Capital Markets: “While the FY25 model has a number of moving pieces, the updated framework for ~10% underlying growth provides a path for modest upside even in a choppy macro this year,” Jester wrote in a note.

“Forward looking metrics of growth came in slightly better, with current RPO (12-months) growing 13% y/y and billings coming in stronger than expected as the company lapped the peak of the transition headwind,” he added.

KeyBanc Capital Markets: Autodesk reported better-than-expected revenue of $1,469 million, representing 11.5% year-on-year growth, “primarily driven by EBA strength and continued momentum in construction and infrastructure,” Celino said.

“More importantly, Autodesk provided FY26 FCF commentary and expects FCF of $2.05B, which is a touch better than cons. of $2.04B,” the analyst wrote. “We are encouraged by the slightly better FY26 outlook."

Mizuho Securities: Autodesk reported strong results for the fourth quarter and broadly in-line guidance for fiscal 2025, Panigrahi said. Its free cash flow is likely to have troughed and the company seems poised to benefit from “a mechanical rebuild of FCF in FY25 with further growth acceleration for FY26,” he added.

“Autodesk will be rolling out its new transaction model in North America in Q2, which will have an accounting impact (mechanically increasing net revenue/OpEx, but neutral to operating profit/cash flow),” the analyst further stated.

Piper Sandler: “Autodesk's initial FY25 look ahead of 9%+ growth was raised to 10%; reflecting the midpoint of a 9-11% USD range,” Jeffries wrote.

“More importantly in our view was the company's initial guide of $2.05B of FCF in FY26; which gives investors a much more discrete picture on the cash margin as the multi-year Billings transition progresses to its later innings,” he added.

ADSK Price Action: Shares of Autodesk had risen by 1.64% to $262.40 at the time of publication on Friday.

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