Avant! Meets Third-Quarter Estimates

Avant!(AVNT Quote) reported third-quarter earnings that met Wall Street's expectations and provided an upbeat forecast for the rest of the year.

The company reported earnings, excluding merger, in-process research and development expenses and venture capital investment gains of $18.5 million, or 45 cents a diluted share, in line with the consensus estimate, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. In the year-ago period, the company earned $14.8 million, or 37 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $90.5 million from $75.5 million.

The company, which develops integrated circuit design automation software, expects fourth-quarter revenue and earnings per share to increase about 10% to 14% from the year-ago period, resulting in an annual growth rate of about 17% to 20% for earnings per share and 15% to 18% for revenue. Analysts expect the company to earn 48 cents a share for the fourth quarter and $1.77 a share for the year.