Autodesk, Inc. didn’t waste any time preparing the financial markets for disappointing news on its third quarter ended Oct. 31, 2008. The 2D and 3D design software company today announced preliminary results that reflect the economic woes now spreading across the globe.
The company said it expects total revenue in the range of $604 million to $607 million and GAAP earnings of $0.41 to $0.43 per diluted share.
Those numbers will beat year-earlier revenue of $538 million, a record quarter, and earnings of $0.35 per share, but will be down from second-quarter results and will fall well short of projections. In August, after the close of the second quarter, Autodesk executives were exulting in another record period, with revenue of $620 million and earnings of $0.39 per share. At the time, they called for $625 million to $635 million in third-quarter revenue and GAAP earnings of $0.40 to $0.42 per share.
Instead, the U.S. housing and financial crises erupted in September, creating a credit squeeze and belt-tightening that are now starting to choke off business transactions in many industries, including manufacturing.