WSJ: Jittery Companies Stash Cash

Nov 3, 2009 | Hot Topics

The Wall Street Journal had a great article yesterday on the apparent hoarding of cash by America’s public companies. According to the piece, “in the second quarter, the 500 largest nonfinancial U.S. firms, by total assets, held about $994 billion in cash and short...

Quick hits: news roundup

Nov 2, 2009 | Hot Topics

We’ve been so focused on the big news of last week (in case you missed it, Dassault Systèmes is buying the DS-focused IBM PLM division of IBM and PTC and DS announced earnings) that a lot of other noteworthy items slipped under the radar. A quick recap: How long...

DS: Holding steady

Oct 29, 2009 | Hot Topics

Good things come in twos (so far): Dassault Systèmes reported that Q3 performance was as expected, with total revenue of 291.7 million euros and software revenue of 255.6 million euros, both down 8% from a year ago but essentially flat with Q2. Keep in mind that Q3 is...

PTC: Things are looking up!

Oct 28, 2009 | Hot Topics

The good news: things are looking up enough for PTC to forecast actual growth for next year – not couched in terms of “constant currency” or using non-GAAP measures. Actual growth! The bad news, of course, is that 2009 was a dismal year by many measures. PTC...

The DS/IBM deal changes the PLM sector

Oct 27, 2009 | Hot Topics

Regardless of whether you like the deal DS struck to buy the IBM PLM business, it does change the dynamics within the PLM sector. From a competitive perspective, DS will now face the same issues of access that PTC and Autodesk face: can their sales reps get in to see...

Earnings preview: good news ahead?

Oct 26, 2009 | Hot Topics

PTC, Dassault Systèmes (DS) and ANSYS report third quarter earnings over the next ten days, so it’s time for a preview. Each company has kept a tight lid on things, so only insiders know what will be reported but we can look to other company’s reports for...

DS Q2 revenue down 5% but profit down 41%

Jul 30, 2009 | Hot Topics

Dassault Systèmes reported today that Q2 revenue fell 5% from a year ago to 310.9 million euros, the high end of its earlier guidance, while net profit fell 41% to 25.7 million euros from 43.2 million euros. On a sequential basis, however, revenue was flat to up...

PTC Q3 in-line but lowers Q4 outlook

Jul 29, 2009 | Hot Topics

PTC announced last night that Q3 revenue (for the period ended June 30) was $226.2 million, compared to earlier guidance of between $220 million and $230 million, bolstered by a $3 million positive currency trend. The company lowered its revenue guidance for Q4 by...

The business of PLM: 0% financing?

Jul 22, 2009 | Hot Topics

PTC yesterday reminded everyone on its blast list that its 0% financing offer for Pro/Engineer, Windchill and other products continues right through to the end of its fiscal year, September 30. PTC rightly says that the 0% financing will enable buyers to conserve...

CAE data management – the breakdowns

Jul 14, 2009 | Hot Topics

CAE data management has become a critical topic for many CAE departments — after all, tying together which CAD models were used as the basis for an analysis, the meshing technique and resulting mesh, the loads and constraints and the resulting data and...