Fair Isaac gains, Adobe restructures

Article Excerpt

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $33.98 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 38.7 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 0.2%) makes FICO Scores, which dominates the market for software that businesses use to make better decisions on customer creditworthiness. In addition, the company sells software to help credit-card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns. In its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter, which ended September 30, 2011, Fair Isaac’s earnings jumped 55.4%, to $24.6 million from $15.8 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 66.7% to $0.65 from $0.39, on fewer shares outstanding. Savings from the company’s ongoing cost cuts were a big part of the increase. The latest earnings also beat the consensus estimate of $0.61 a share. Revenue rose 3.3% to $160.2 million from $155.1 million. Fair Isaac spends around 11% of its revenue on research. That lets it keep producing innovative new products that help it stay ahead of its competitors. The company’s balance sheet is…