Weak lending outlook hurts Fair Isaac

Article Excerpt

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $23 (New York symbol FICO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 46.5 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 0.4%; WSSF Rating: Average) sells products and services that help businesses around the world make better decisions on customer creditworthiness. Its main business is its FICO software, which lets creditors use a customer’s information to calculate a credit score. Fair Isaac’s main clients are banks and other lenders. The slow economy continues to hold back demand for new loans, so many of the company’s clients are spending less on its products and services. That’s why Fair Isaac’s revenue fell 7.3% in its first quarter, which ended December 31, 2009, to $151.5 million from $163.5 million a year earlier. In response, Fair Isaac is cutting costs, including laying off workers. If you exclude severance costs and other one-time items related to its cost cuts, Fair Isaac’s per-share earnings in the quarter were unchanged at $0.37. However, the…