UPDATE: Credit Suisse Upgrades Autodesk (ADSK) to Outperform

(Updated - October 2, 2014 11:34 AM EDT)

Credit Suisse upgraded Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) from Neutral to Outperform with a price target of $70.00 (from $50.00). The change follow its analyst day event yesterday. Analyst Philip Winslow thinks changes to its business model will result in meaningful long-term upside to revenue and improve profitability.

"Although many investors had tried to compare the potential benefit to Autodesk and its stock with the positive impact from Adobe's transition to the Creative Cloud, we did not expect an uplift to average revenue per user similar to Adobe's transition given that Autodesk's stated intention—up until yesterday's Investor Day—was to continue to sell perpetual licenses in addition to new subscription offerings, which compared with Adobe's forced migration," said Winslow.

"However, we believe that several significant changes to Autodesk's business model (some of which were announced at yesterday's Investor Day and others which we believe will be revealed in the coming 18-36 months) will result in meaningful long-term upside to revenue (at limited incremental cost) versus current consensus estimates, including (1) driving a higher revenue per user due to the forced migration to subscription offerings, (2) monetizing new cloud-based addons offerings, (3) expanding the company's user base via rental license offerings, and (4) eventually raising maintenance pricing to converge with the higher-priced subscription model," he added.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Autodesk click here. For more ratings news on Autodesk click here.

Shares of Autodesk closed at $55.66 yesterday.

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