Autodesk announced its fiscal year ’24 Q4 earnings results on 28 February 2024. Total Q4 revenue was USD 1.47 billion, an increase of 14 percent at a constant currency basis and above the high end of guidance and consensus.
Fiscal Report
Autodesk’s full picture 2024 Q4 fiscal results include top-line revenue growth and a free cash flow from operations at USD 427 million. Here are some other metrics:
- USD 1.71 billion in total billings, a decrease of 19 percent.
- USD 1.47 billion in total revenue, an increase of 11 percent, or 14 percent on a constant currency basis.
- Recurring revenue represents 98 percent of the total revenue.
- USD 1.2 billion in “Design” segment revenue, a 10 percent increase as reported.
- USD 138 million in “Make” segment revenue, a 16 percent increase as reported.
- Non-GAAP operation margin was 36 percent, flat compared with the year-ago period.
- GAAP diluted EPS was USD 1.31; non-GAAP was USD 2.09.
“We are undertaking a multi-year process to develop lifecycle solutions powered by shared platform services and with Autodesk’s Data Model at its core. Together, these will enable Autodesk, its customers, and partners to create more valuable, data-driven, and connected products and services,” said Andrew Anagnost, Autodesk president and CEO. “Having led the industry in generative design, we are leading again in 3D generative AI. Our new multimodal foundation models will enable design and make customers to automate low-value and repetitive tasks and generate more high-value, complex designs more rapidly and with much greater consistency. We can already generate 3D representations from images 10 times faster and with vastly higher quality than currently available 3D AI.”
“Autodesk remains resilient, and underlying demand for our products and services is robust. As a result, revenue grew 14 percent at constant currency in the fourth quarter,” said Debbie Clifford, Autodesk’s CFO. Adjusting the midpoint of our guidance to exclude noise from the new transaction model, acquisitions, the absence of EBA true-up revenue, and FX, we expect underlying revenue to grow more than 10 percent in fiscal 25.”
Architosh Analysis and Commentary
In looking at fiscal details in Autodesk reports, net revenue by product family is another way of splitting up Autodesk’s financial results beyond the Design and Make segment categories. The four product families are (with results in millions):
- USD 696 (up from 602) — AEC
- USD 377 (up from 362) — AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
- USD 292 (up from 257) — MFG (Manufacturing / Mechanical CAD products)
- USD 77 (up from 74) — M&E (media & entertainment)
The Other revenue category not associated with these four families generated USD 27 million, up from USD 23 million in the Q4-2023 quarter.
It is notable that AutoCAD family revenue is 54 percent as large as AEC family revenue but did not grow nearly as quickly in the present examined quarter. Those in the 2D CAD industry who compete with Autodesk contend there are still substantial growth opportunities in the global market if users in developing countries and third-world countries can abandon pirated licenses and switch to legal subscription licenses. However, the issue in those markets is that the software is simply too expensive. So there is still market upside for the AutoCAD product family growth, perhaps substantial, but so much of it lies in markets that need more affordable solutions.
