Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat, can I get your assessment of Autodesk as a stock to buy? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Autodesk Inc., $172,60, symbol ADSK on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 217.3 million; Market cap: $37.6 billion; www.autodesk.com), is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Its products include AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, Fusion 360, 3ds Max and Maya software. Autodesk continues to make acquisitions to widen both its technological expertise and its customer base. In February 2021, the company made the largest acquisition in its 39-year history, paying $1 billion for Innovyze. That business creates software solutions for the water infrastructure industry. Meanwhile, on April 15, 2021, Autodesk announced that it had acquired Toronto-based Upchain. That firm is a provider of cloud-based product lifecycle management (PLM) and product data management (PDM) software. The purchase price has not yet been disclosed. Upchain aims to help manufacturers manage complexity between teams by putting data at the centre of the product development process. Additionally, it has customers in aerospace, transportation, machining and apparel, which complement many of Autodesk’s current software offerings. Upchain’s focus is on small…