How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
The fear of missing out, or FOMO, also plays a factor in investing, especially with particular tech giants, as well as popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Autodesk (ADSK) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to ADSK for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Autodesk's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Autodesk's main business drivers.
San Francisco, CA-based Autodesk develops model-based design, engineering and documentation software. The company serves customers in architecture, engineering and construction; product design and manufacturing; and digital media and entertainment industries.
Autodesk recognizes revenue from product subscriptions, cloud service offerings, Enterprise Business Agreements (EBAs), maintenance renewals and consulting and training services. Revenues reached $7.21 billion in fiscal 2026, up 18% year over year. Subscription and maintenance revenues accounted for 94%, while Other revenue comprised the rest.
Autodesk has four product families: Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations (AECO), Manufacturing (MFG), AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT (ACAD) and Media and Entertainment (M&E).
AECO includes AutoCAD Civil 3D, BIM 360, Industry Collections and PlanGrid to improve design, construction and operation of building and infrastructure projects. AECO contributed 49.7% to fiscal 2026 revenues.
MFG includes CAM solutions, Fusion 360, Vault and Industry Collections for automotive, transportation, industrial machinery and consumer product industries. MFG contributed 19.1% to fiscal 2026 revenues.
ACAD comprises AutoCAD, a customizable application for professional design, drafting and visualization, and AutoCAD LT, purpose built for professional drafting. ACAD contributed 24.8% to fiscal 2026 revenues.
M&E products include Maya, 3ds Max and Industry Collections for modeling, animation, effects, rendering in visual effects and games production. M&E contributed 4.6% to fiscal 2026 revenues.
Americas contributed 44.1% to fiscal 2026 revenues. EMEA and Asia Pacific contributed 38.8% and 17.1%, respectively.
Autodesk is building agentic AI for real-world design workflows, to scale industry-specific AI tools and foundation models across architecture, engineering, manufacturing.
Bottom Line
Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Autodesk, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in July 2016 would be worth $3,780.38, or a 278.04% gain, as of July 13, 2026, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
In comparison, the S&P 500's gained 255.67% and the price of gold went up 193.80% over the same time frame.
Analysts are forecasting more upside for ADSK too.
Autodesk benefits from a successful transition to a cloud-based subscription model, ensuring predictable recurring revenues, strong free cash flow and expanding operating margins. Its AI-driven innovation across AutoCAD, Revit and Fusion enhances productivity and strengthens customer dependency. The company's dominant market positions across design, construction, manufacturing and media create high switching costs, while expansion into adjacent markets broadens long-term growth opportunities. However, rising operating expenses tied to cloud and AI investments pressure margins. Currency fluctuations create earnings volatility, while intensifying competition from established and emerging players challenges market share. Additionally, regulatory complexities and exposure to cyclical industries increase financial uncertainty and risk.
Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 5.05%, and there have been 9 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2026 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).