Autodesk Posts Lower Earnings, Cuts Jobs

Autodesk(ADSK Quote) had exceeded the street's earnings estimates for the past four quarters. Make that five.

After landing in the red during the regular session and following pessimism about the company's earnings announcement, shares of the company soared nearly 13% after the closing bell. After the close, the California-based company announced that it beat consensus estimates.

The company, which specializes in creating mapping and drawing software for architects and engineers, reported a loss of $32.1 million, or 14 cents per share, as against a profit of $94.6 million, or 41 cents, at the same time last year. Revenue fell off a cliff, coming in at $425.8 million. That's a 29% drop from the $598.8 million posted in the first quarter last year.

But after excluding certain charges, Non-Gaap EPS came in at 18 cents. Analysts projected EPS at 8 cents and revenue at $419 million.

In the same announcement, Autodesk unveiled a plan to cut 430 jobs and close several facilities, a move aimed at saving $120 million. The company did add that 100 new hires in certain positions will help offset some of the cuts. As a result, Autodesk plans to take a pre-tax charge somewhere between $33 million to $40 million spread out over the next two quarters.

"While we have already achieved significant cost savings, it was clear that additional measures had to be taken in order to better align our cost structure with current revenue expectations," President and CEO Carl Bass said in a statement. "The ultimate goal of these measures is to reduce our near-term expenses as well as further improve our operational efficiencies over the long-term."