Uh-oh: Autodesk warns for Q3
Autodesk this morning issued a terse press release saying that preliminary results showthat revenue will be in the range of $604 million to $607 million -- far below the earlierforecast of $630 million.The press release contains the following from Carl Bass, CEO:...
PTC not for sale?
On today's earnings call, PTC CEO Dick Harrison was asked to comment on thewidely-circulated rumor that PTC was for sale. Replied Harrison, "We're not shopping thecompany." So there.
Earnings: so far, so good
Here we go! The PLM earnings season starts today: so far, 2 of 2 companies have reportedsolid calendar Q3 results but see rocky times ahead. Quick hits:- MSC did not announce earnings (that's next Tuesday) but did file a series of forms with theSEC about changes in...
PLM vs the unions — maybe
There is absolutely nothing I can add to the reams of information and speculation publishedabout the "demise" of the US automobile industry. But an excellent article in the Wall StreetJournal simply cries out for PLMish commentary. The piece, How Detroit...
Siemens Exiderdome meets Boston harbor — Brrr
I spent much of the last two days with Siemens Energy and Automation -- part of theSiemens division that now houses Siemens PLM. Siemens brought its exiderdome toBoston for the week, inviting customers, prospects and analysts to tour what is, in essence,a barge full...
Oracle acquires Primavera
On October 8, 2008, Oracle announced it was acquiring Primavera Software, the developer of the eponymous Primavera project management application as well as other solutions related to managing contracts and disputes, billing and sourcing. The deal is expected to close...
DASTY to DSY
Sorry about that. Yes, you still can follow Dassault Systèmes shares as they trade on theParis Euronext exchange. Each tracking system will have a slightly different syntax, but thesymbol will be some variant on Paris:DSY. For example, DS' symbol on Euronext inGoogle...
From the Nasdaq to Paris
If, like me, you have a little stock chart on your browser screen, you'll notice a lot of zeroesnext to the DASTY symbol. No reason to panic. Dassault Systèmes (DS) stopped trading onthe Nasdaq as of today, October 16, 2008. That's not a surprise: the company...
CAE bottlenecks are moving
I've recently been focusing on CAE: who is using cutting-edge tools, why, where they seeimprovements, where they still have issues. One theme that keeps coming up is that thebottlenecks are no longer where they used to be. As compute power increases to the pointwhere...
Solid shipbuilding
Say you want to build a yacht and, since you're a competitive person, you want to be able togloat at Larry Ellison the next time you run into him in Cannes. That means your yachtneeds to be bigger and better than his -- or, according to Wikipedia, have at least 82...
PLM stocks battered on Wall Street — why?
So everyone knows that the US Congress on Monday failed to vote to pass a $700 billion billto bail out the financial markets. Whether you're for or against the bill is irrelevant; its failureto pass cost investors $1.1 trillion. Almost twice what the bill would have...
Solidworks, Dassault Systèmes and PTC — Oh my!
It’s been an interesting week. Like you, dozens of emails and press releases cross my desk every day, some of which are far more relevant and interesting than others. Of interest: Bernard Charlés appeared for the first time ever at a SolidWorks-sponsored event – and...
How often is too often?
The length of release cycles continues to be a point of contention between developers and users of engineering technology. On the one hand, developers want to get new releases out there to bring in revenue, deal with competitive issues and fix customer bugs. But users...
Is PTC hanging out the “For Sale” sign?
The Financial Times of London reported on Saturday that PTC has approached GoldmanSachs about selling itself for something on the order of $2 billion. FT cites "people withknowledge of the process" but was unable to get PTC to comment. The article says...
What, exactly, is a seat?
A few weeks ago I pointed out that most public companies put information into their earningsreleases that leads to ... shall we say, less than clarity?Autodesk is a champion at providing reams of information that turn out to be not so useful. Inits fiscal second...
Cool stuff in Pittsburgh
ANSYS held its bi-annual user event in Pittsburgh last week - Pittsburgh in late August? -forroughly 800 customers, staff and investors from 30 countries. Quick take: ANSYScustomers do cool stuff, use cool tools and are excited about the possibilities the nextproduct...
MSC Q2 earnings release provides some unusual factoids
MSC Software, like most public companies, provides information in its quarterly earnings releases that leave analysts wondering why a particular nugget was worthy of inclusion. Since all information provided is fair game, following are a few additional conclusions...
Autodesk’s streak continues
Autodesk handily beat market expectations for the second fiscal quarter of 2009, reportingtotal revenue of $620 million, up 18% over last year and ahead its own earlier forecast.Excluding foreign exchange effects, total revenue was up 10%. Moldlfow contributed...
ANSYS glitters — again
ANSYS once again announced results that beat expectations – for something like the 50thtime in a row. ANSYS reported Q2 2008 revenue of $111 million, up 21% from a year ago(and not including any contribution from Ansoft, which closed after the quarter ended). On...
MSC Software reports a mixed bag for Q2 2008
On August 5, 2008, MSC Software reported revenue of $64.4 million, up 6% due primarily togrowth in the maintenance revenue stream, with a quarterly profit that topped Wall Streetexpectations by a penny – yet the share price declined 20 cents. Clearly, investors...
