Why Autodesk Stock Crushed the Market Today

Key Points

• The AutoCAD developer scored a convincing beat on the bottom line in its latest reported quarter.

• It also edged past the consensus for revenue.

• 10 stocks we like better than Autodesk ›

Veteran design software developer Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) was quite the hit on the stock exchange as the trading week came to an end on Friday. On the back of a quite encouraging quarterly earnings release published after market close the day before, investors eagerly bought into the company's shares, and lifted them to a 9% gain on the day.

That was a far better performance than that of the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), which sank by 0.6%.

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Obliterating the bottom-line consensus

Autodesk, best known for the durable AutoCAD software suite widely used in the architecture profession, posted revenue of $1.76 billion in its second quarter of fiscal 2026. That represented improvement of 17% over the same period of fiscal 2025. The company's total billings, meanwhile, leaped by 36% to just under $1.68 billion.

Image source: Getty Images.

In terms of profitability, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income rose to $313 million from the year-ago profit of $282 million. On a per-share, non-GAAP (adjusted) basis, Autodesk netted $2.62, for a year-over-year increase of 22%.

With those results, Autodesk notched a double beat on the consensus analyst estimates. On average, pundits tracking the specialty tech stock were anticipating $1.72 billion on the top line, and merely $2.45 per share for adjusted net profitability.

Autodesk said in its earnings release that its core "product family" of architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) offerings sold particularly well during the quarter. The company attributed this to robust investment into data centers, infrastructure, and buildings used for industrial purposes.

Crossing the $7 billion mark

The forward momentum should continue, if Autodesk's guidance for both the current (third) quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 are reasonably accurate.

The company is expecting to post billings of just under $7.36 billion to almost $7.45 billion for the year, and revenue of nearly $7.03 billion to just under $7.08 billion. Adjusted earnings per share should land at $9.80 to $9.98, it added. On average, analysts are modeling $6.97 billion on the top line.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Autodesk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.