Autodesk beats Street view, shares firmer

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Autodesk Inc (ADSK.O), the maker of design software AutoCAD, posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday as it cut costs, boosting its stock in after-hours trade.

The company, whose competitors include Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O), Dassault Systemes SA (DAST.PA) and Parametric Technology Corp (PMTC.O), reported a net profit in the second quarter ended July 31 of $10.5 million, or 5 cents a share.

That is down sharply from an $89.8 million, or 39 cents per share, profit, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Autodesk posted a profit of 24 cents per share, compared with 56 cents per share a year ago, and ahead of analysts' consensus forecast of 19 cents according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue fell 33 percent from a year ago to $415 million from $619.5 million, but beat expectations for $412.81 million by a touch, according to Reuters Estimates.

Excluding items Autodesk forecast third-quarter earnings of 18 cents to 23 cents per share, in line with analysts' consensus estimate of a 20 cent per share profit.

The company forecast third-quarter revenue of $400 million to $420 million, generally in line with analysts' average estimate of $417.39 million.

Shares of San Rafael, California-based Autodesk rose 0.5 percent to $24.34 in after-hours trading, after closing down 2.14 percent at $24.20 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Editing by Richard Chang)