UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Downgrades Autodesk to Underperform, Lowers PT

In a report published Friday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded its rating on Autodesk ADSK from Neutral to Underperform, and lowered its price target from $39.00 to $32.00. BofA Merrill Lynch noted, “We are downgrading ADSK to Underperform and revise our PO to $32 (from $39) based on 12x (in-line with the SPX vs. prior 35% premium) CY13 EPS est of $2.12 (ex-cash) + $7 cash/sh. We have highlighted weakening trends and macro risks since our Nov downgrade to Neutral, which intensified in F2Q causing rev miss and full yr guidance reset. F2Q revs were 4% below our/cons ests and license revs missed our est by 6% decelerating to 2% y/y growth from 12% in F1Q. Maintenance billings (a key forward indicator) grew 7% y/y vs. 37% in yr ago qtr. (See variance analysis on pg 3). FY13 rev growth guide was also revised down to 4-6% y/y from +10%. Mgt attributed ~70% of the miss to sales execution issues stemming from reorg done in 1Q and ~30% to macro pressures mainly in central EU.” Autodesk closed on Thursday at $35.71.