Aspen (AZPN) Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y
Aspen Technology AZPN reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 non-GAAP earnings of $2.13 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.19. AZPN reported non-GAAP earnings of $2.55 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Revenues of $320.6 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.3%. The company reported revenues of $238.9 million in the prior-year quarter. The year-over-year growth was driven by solid momentum across all business segments.
Quarter in Detail
License’s revenues (69.5% of revenues) were up 24.3% year over year to $222.8 million.
Maintenance’s revenues (25.8%) rose 64.6% year over year to $82.6 million.
Revenues from Services and other (4.7%) surged 60.5% from the year-ago quarter’s figure to $15.2 million.
Aspen Technology, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Aspen Technology, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Aspen Technology, Inc. Quote
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter revenues for the License, Maintenance and Services segments was pegged at $230 million, $78 million and $16.68 million, respectively.
As of Jun 30, 2023, the annual spend (which Aspen Technology defines as the annualized value of all term license and maintenance contracts at the quarter end other than Open Systems International [OSI] and Subsurface Science and Engineering [SSE]) totaled $730.9 million, up 8.5% year over year and 2.7% quarter over quarter.
Margins
Gross profit increased to $225.1 million from the year-ago quarter’s $167.9 million. As a percentage of total revenues, the figure reached 70.2% from 70.3% reported in the prior-year quarter.
Total operating expenses amounted to $219.1 million from the year-ago quarter’s $128.8 million due to higher selling, marketing, general and administrative along with research and development costs.
Non-GAAP operating income totaled $148.9 million compared with $129 million reported in the year-earlier quarter.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of Jun 30, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were $241.2 million compared with $286.7 million as of Mar 31, 2023.
The company generated $113.6 million in cash from operations compared with $66.8 million reported in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP free cash flow was $111.5 million in the fiscal fourth quarter.
Fiscal 2024 View
For fiscal 2024, Aspen expects revenues to be at least $1.12 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $1.12 billion.
Non-GAAP net income is anticipated to be at least $6.51 per share. The consensus estimate is pegged at $6.16 per share.
Management projects Annual Contract Value growth to be at least 11.5% year over year and total bookings to be at least $1.04 billion.
Non-GAAP operating income is estimated to be at least $445 million while non-GAAP total expenses are suggested to be nearly $675 million.
Free cash flow is projected to be at least $360 million.
Aspen currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks worth consideration in the broader technology space are Badger Meter BMI, Salesforce CRM and Autodesk ADSK. Badger Meter flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 while each of Salesforce and Autodesk carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Badger Meter’s 2023 earnings has gained 6.3% in the past 60 days to $2.86 per share. BMI’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average surprise being 6.7%. Shares of BMI have surged 70% in the past year.
The consensus mark for Salesforce’s fiscal 2024 earnings is pegged at $7.44 per share, up 0.3% in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 19.3%.
CRM’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average surprise being 15.5%. Shares of CRM have grown 13.8% in the past year.
The consensus estimate for Autodesk’s fiscal 2024 earnings of $7.25 per share remained flat in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 24.3%.
ADSK’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average beat being 2.1%. Shares of ADSK have declined 8.6% in the past year.
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