Buy Fair Isaac, hold on to Adobe

Article Excerpt

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $44.96 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 33.8 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Dividend yield: 0.2%) makes FICO Scores, the computer program that dominates the market for software that businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. The company is also profiting by selling software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze their clients’ spending patterns. I In its fiscal 2012 third quarter, which ended June 30, 2012, Fair Isaac’s earnings per share rose 1.7%, to $0.59 from $0.58. That matched the consensus estimate of $0.59. Revenue rose 6.5%, to $160.5 million from $150.7 million. Research spending is a hidden plus Fair Isaac spends around 10% of its sales on research. That lets it keep producing innovative new products that help it stay ahead of its competitors. The company is also making acquisitions. It recently agreed to buy Adeptra, which makes systems that let businesses communicate with customers through a range of channels, including voice,…