Fair Isaac Corp.

ACI WORLDWIDE $28.80 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (402-334-5101; www.tsainc.com; Shares outstanding: 33.2 million; Market cap: $956.2 million; No dividends paid) makes software that is used to process transactions that involve credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, automated-teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments. ACI has more than 800 clients in 88 countries. Customers include more than 100 of the world’s 500 largest banks and seven of the top 12 retailers in the U.S. In the three months ended December 31, 2010, ACI’s revenue rose 12.2%, to $141.2 million from $125.9 million a year earlier. The company earned $27.1 million, or $0.82 a share, in the latest quarter. That’s up 38.5% from $19.6 million, or $0.58 a share. ACI’s cash flow jumped 83.6%, to $45.8 million, or $1.38 a share, from $24.9 million, or $0.73 a share....

TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP., $45.63, New York symbol TUP, is our #1 Stock of the Year for 2011. The company makes high-quality products for the home, including plastic food and beverage containers and children’s educational toys. These products account for 70% of its revenue. The remaining 30% comes from its beauty products division, which makes a wide range of cosmetics, bath oils and fragrances. Unlike most consumer product makers, Tupperware mainly prefers to sell its goods through independent dealers instead of stores. The company now has 2.5 million dealers in over 100 countries. These dealers hold “Tupperware parties” in homes, offices and other locations to demonstrate products and take orders for merchandise. Parties also provide an opportunity to recruit new dealers, and make it easier to expand sales in less-developed countries with few retail stores or distribution networks....

ALARMFORCE INDUSTRIES, $9.24, symbol AF on Toronto, has moved up over 23% since the start of this year, and continues to hit all-time highs. AlarmForce reports that it earned $4.8 million, or $0.39 a share, in the year ended October 31, 2010. That’s up 26.5% from $3.8 million, or $0.31 a share, in the previous year. The home-security firm’s revenue rose 8.9%, to $37.2 million from $34.1 million....

AUTODESK INC. $33.46 (Nasdaq symbol ADSK; SI Rating: Average) (515-507-5000; www.autodesk.com; Shares outstanding: 229.3 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion) gets nearly 90% of its revenue from its AutoCAD software, which is the world’s top-selling computer-aided design program. About four million architects and engineers in over 100 countries use AutoCAD to design and test new buildings and products. Autodesk gets the remaining 10% of its revenue from programs that filmmakers use to create special effects. In its second quarter, which ended July 31, 2010, Autodesk earned $85 million, or $0.36 a share. That’s up 50.4% from $56.5 million, or $0.24 a share, a year earlier. These figures exclude several unusual items, including costs related to Autodesk’s restructuring plan. Under this plan, the company cut over 10% of its workforce and merged certain facilities. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.27 a share....

ACI WORLDWIDE $19.59 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; SI Rating: Speculative) (402-334-5101; www.tsainc.com; Shares outstanding: 34 million; Market cap: $666.3 million; No dividends paid) makes software that is used to process transactions that involve credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, automated-teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments. ACI has more than 750 clients in 88 countries. Its customers include more than 100 of the world’s 500 largest banks and seven of the top 12 retailers in the U.S. In the three months ended March 31, 2010, ACI’s revenue fell slightly, to $87.7 million from $88.2 million a year earlier. It lost $2.1 million, or $0.06 a share, in the quarter. That’s better than the $4.1 million, or $0.12 a share, it lost a year earlier. Despite the loss, ACI’s cash flow jumped to $11.8 million, or $0.35 a share, from $1.3 million, or $0.04 a share....

HEWLETT-PACKARD CO., $51.97, New York symbol HPQ, is buying smartphone-maker Palm Inc. (Nasdaq symbol PALM) for $1.2 billion. About $1 billion of the purchase price will be in cash; the remaining $200 million consists of Palm’s debt. Hewlett holds cash of $13.6 billion, or $5.79 a share, so it can easily afford this purchase. The deal should close by July 31, 2010. Palm sells mobile-computing and communication devices to consumers and businesses worldwide. The company has one main product line: smartphones, which it sells under the Treo, Centro, Pre and Pixi brands. The Pre and Pixi smartphones use the webOS operating system. Palm will strengthen Hewlett’s own line of wireless devices. It should also help Hewlett compete as more people access the Internet through mobile devices instead of desktop and laptop computers. As well, Palm’s software expertise will help Hewlett develop new products. For example, Hewlett is working on a touch-screen tablet computer that would compete with Apple’s iPad....

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE, $26.81, symbol WYN on New York, reported higher-than-expected first-quarter profits this week. In the three months ended March 31, 2010, Wyndham’s earnings per share, excluding one-time items, fell 17.1%, to $0.34 from $0.41. Despite the drop, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.30 a share. Revenue fell 1.7%, to $886 million from $901 million. Here too, revenue was higher than forecast, even though it declined: the consensus revenue estimate was $848 million. The lower revenue and earnings were mostly the result of an accounting change. The economic recovery is pushing up travel demand and increasing the number of guests at Wyndham’s hotels....

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....

FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION $21.80 (New York symbol FICO; SI Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 46.5 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Dividend yield 0.4%) reports that its revenue fell 7.3% in the three months ended December 31, 2009, to $151.5 million from $163.5 million a year earlier. That’s because tight credit markets have hurt the financial institutions that are its main customers. Despite the lower revenue, cost cuts kept earnings per share unchanged at $0.37. Fair Isaac’s long-term outlook remains positive. That’s partly because the company is using its credit-scoring expertise to diversify into other areas. For example, its new Retail Action Manager software lets retailers design sales strategies based on their customers’ buying histories. Electronics retailer Best Buy recently signed a multi-year agreement to buy Retail Action Manager....

TEMPUR-PEDIC, $24.89, symbol TPX on New York, reported sharply higher revenue and earnings in the latest quarter. In the three months ended December 31, 2009, Tempur-Pedic’s earnings rose 129.1%, to $29.1 million, or $0.38 a share, from $12.7 million, or $0.17 a share, a year earlier. This result was slightly higher than the $0.37 a share that analysts were expecting. The higher earnings were mainly caused by a 29.4% revenue increase, to $244.8 million from $189.1 million a year earlier. As well, the company’s international sales rose 15%, and its U.S. sales jumped 40%....