Autodesk Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Autodesk exceeded fiscal Q2 guidance, with revenue up 16% year over year and non-GAAP operating margin reaching 41%. The company raised its fiscal 2027 billings outlook to $8.575 billion–$8.65 billion and revenue outlook to $8.295 billion–$8.345 billion.
• The MaintainX acquisition, completed Aug. 3, expands Autodesk into asset maintenance and operations and is expected to add about $60 million in second-half revenue. However, MaintainX’s current unprofitability will dilute Autodesk’s fiscal 2027 operating margin.
• Management highlighted strong renewals, improving sales productivity and construction growth of more than 20%, while advancing an AI-driven “project intelligence” strategy that connects design, construction, manufacturing and operational workflows.

Autodesk NASDAQ: ADSK reported fiscal 2027 second-quarter revenue and earnings per share above the high end of its guidance ranges, prompting the company to raise its full-year outlook for billings and revenue. The updated forecast also incorporates the acquisition of MaintainX, which closed on Aug. 3.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Anagnost said Autodesk is pursuing a strategy centered on “project intelligence,” connecting data and workflows across design, construction, manufacturing and asset operations. The company aims to extend information generated during planning and construction into the operational life of assets, then use operating performance data to inform future projects.

“We delivered another strong quarter,” Anagnost said, citing the company’s execution and the ongoing benefits of prior business-model changes.

Second-Quarter Results and Updated Outlook

Chief Financial Officer Janesh Moorjani said second-quarter revenue increased 16% year over year as reported, or 14% in constant currency. The company said its new transaction model added about 2 percentage points to revenue growth during the quarter.

Billings rose 10% as reported and 12% in constant currency. Moorjani said the transaction model did not have a significant impact on billings growth in the second quarter. He also said Autodesk continued reducing multi-year contract discounts, including winding down multi-year renewals under its maintenance-to-subscription program. The company expects that approach to improve price realization over time, though it may temporarily weigh on unbilled deferred revenue and remaining performance obligations growth.

• GAAP operating margin was 29%, up about 4 percentage points year over year.
• Non-GAAP operating margin was 41%, up about 2 percentage points.
• Free cash flow totaled $561 million.
• Autodesk repurchased about 2.1 million shares for $453 million.

Moorjani attributed margin improvement to operating leverage, sales optimization and a lower level of stock-based compensation as a percentage of revenue. Autodesk expects stock-based compensation to represent about 9% of revenue in fiscal 2027, down from about 11% in fiscal 2026.

For fiscal 2027, Autodesk raised its billings outlook to a range of $8.575 billion to $8.65 billion and increased its revenue outlook to $8.295 billion to $8.345 billion. The forecast includes approximately six months of MaintainX results. Autodesk expects MaintainX to contribute about $60 million in second-half revenue and about $70 million in second-half billings, with both weighted somewhat toward the fourth quarter.

The company narrowed its free-cash-flow forecast to $2.725 billion to $2.75 billion. The outlook reflects stronger underlying expectations, offset by MaintainX operating and net financing costs and about $45 million in transaction expenses related to the acquisition.

MaintainX Expands Autodesk Into Operations

Anagnost described MaintainX as an extension of Autodesk’s digital thread into day-to-day asset maintenance and operations. He said operational data from buildings, factories, machines and other physical assets can help close the feedback loop between how assets are designed, built and used in the real world.

Autodesk’s immediate integration priorities are to preserve MaintainX’s growth momentum and integrate back-office functions, according to Anagnost. Over time, Autodesk sees opportunities to introduce MaintainX to its enterprise accounts, expand it in Europe through partners and broaden its use beyond its primarily manufacturing-focused customer base into architecture, engineering and construction markets.

Moorjani said MaintainX was unprofitable at the time of acquisition, as is typical of a high-growth business, and will dilute Autodesk’s operating margin in fiscal 2027. Still, Autodesk expects fiscal 2028 non-GAAP operating margin to improve modestly from the 39% forecast for fiscal 2027, despite the annualization of MaintainX costs. The company remains on track for a 41% non-GAAP operating margin target in fiscal 2029.

Sales Reorganization and Demand Trends

Moorjani said the effects of Autodesk’s sales reorganization remained within the range management had anticipated. The Americas, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are normalizing somewhat earlier than Western Europe, where sales productivity has taken longer to improve.

Renewal rates remained strong, and management said billings linearity during the quarter was better than expected. Anagnost said renewal productivity improved both within Autodesk and among channel partners, while the company also saw encouraging signs in expansion business and pipeline creation. He said mature European markets have been slower to build expansion activity because of consultation periods and related factors.

Autodesk noted that its largest enterprise business agreement renewal cohort is concentrated in the fiscal fourth quarter. Moorjani said the company’s previous outlook had already reflected those cohort dynamics, and second-quarter execution and preparation for the second half supported the decision to raise billings guidance.

AI, Construction and Product Reporting Changes

Anagnost said Autodesk is using artificial intelligence to turn connected design, manufacturing, construction and operations data into actionable intelligence. He said the company will use a range of models, including third-party frontier models and Autodesk-built models such as Neural CAD, depending on the need for speed, precision and cost effectiveness.

Management said task-based AI automation is currently embedded in subscription offerings and is supporting Fusion adoption. Over time, Autodesk expects to expand from task automation into workflow and system-level automation, with more consumption-oriented revenue potentially flowing through Flex and other offerings.

Construction continued to grow at more than 20%, according to Anagnost. He said the business benefits from global and segment diversification, but argued that the larger driver is low technology penetration in construction rather than fluctuations in industry backlog metrics.

Autodesk also said it will no longer disclose separate design and make revenue, reflecting its strategy of converging workflows and expanding into operations. The company plans to continue providing commentary on construction, Fusion and operations, and will disclose MaintainX revenue for four quarters to help investors track the acquired business.

Separately, Anagnost announced that Amy Bunszel, executive vice president of Architecture, Engineering and Construction Solutions, plans to retire after 23 years with Autodesk. Bunszel will remain with the company during the search for a successor and through the transition.

About Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK)

Autodesk, Inc NASDAQ: ADSK is a software company that develops design and creation tools for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), manufacturing, and media and entertainment industries. Headquartered in San Rafael, California, the company was founded in 1982 and is best known for pioneering CAD (computer-aided design) software. Autodesk sells products and services to a global customer base, including architects, engineers, contractors, product designers, and content creators.

The company's product portfolio includes industry-standard design and modeling applications such as AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, Fusion 360, Maya and 3ds Max, as well as cloud-based collaboration and project management platforms like BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud.

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