Autodesk outlook bleak, to cut jobs; shares sink

(Reuters) - Autodesk Inc's (ADSK.O) quarterly results fell short of expectations for the first time in nearly two years, and the design-software maker said it would cut jobs as an uncertain economy drags on its business.

Shares of the company, which also forecast third-quarter results below estimates, fell 22 percent to $27.89 after the bell. They closed at $35.71 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

The company, which makes computer-aided design software used by architects and engineers, had indicated in May that the European crisis was hurting sales in the continent, its biggest market.

What surprised investors was the size of the earnings miss and the bleak revenue outlook.

For the current quarter, Autodesk, expects a profit of 40 cents to 50 cents per share on revenue of between $550 million and $570 million.

Analysts were expecting the maker of the AutoCAD design software to earn 50 cents per share on revenue of $601.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"It is probably the spill-over effects from Europe ... the emerging markets were weak and United States also de-accelerated," ThinkEquity analyst Daniel Cummins said.

Autodesk, which did not specify where the proposed job cuts would come from, expects a pre-tax charge of about $50 million to $60 million related to its plans to restructure its business.

Second-quarter profit fell to $64.6 million, or 28 cents per share, from $71.2 million, or 30 cents a year, earlier on slowing sales in Europe.

Excluding items, the company earned 48 cents per share.

"Our own execution challenges, combined with an uneven global economy, resulted in disappointing revenue results for the quarter," the company said in a statement.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $568.7 million.

Analysts expected the company to earn 49 cents per share on revenue of $593.42 million.

(Reporting By Aditya Kondalamahanty; Editing by Supriya Kurane)