Why Autodesk Shares Sank

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of computer-aided design software specialist Autodesk (NAS: ADSK) plummeted 15% today after its quarterly results and guidance came in below Wall Street expectations.

So what: Management had cautioned in May that the troubles in Europe were hurting sales, but the size of today's second-quarter revenue miss -- top-line of just $568.7 million versus the consensus of $593.5 million -- and downside guidance paints a gloomier picture than investors had expected. In fact, Autodesk, which has roughly 7,500 employees, also announced that it is eliminating about 500 jobs, suggesting that management doesn't exactly see demand picking up anytime soon.

Now what: The company now sees full-year 2012 revenue growth of 4% to 6%, well below its prior view of a 10% rise. "Although the economic environment is challenging, our market opportunity and prospects remain strong and we remain committed to achieving our long-term growth targets by the end of fiscal 2015," CEO Carl Bass said. When you couple the worrisome short-term headwinds with the stock's 20-plus P/E, however, I'd wait for more of a pullback before buying into that turnaround talk.

Interested in more info onAutodesk?Add it to your watchlist.

The article Why Autodesk Shares Sank originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.