Aug 27, 2026 earnings call — MaintainX deal and raised guidance
Autodesk raised fiscal '27 billings and revenue guidance; MaintainX adds approximately $60 million revenue and $70 million billings to the second half.
Revenue $2.0B (est $2.0B) · EPS $3.30 (est $3.12) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $8.3B–$8.3B
Key quotes
"Looking ahead, solutions like MaintainX extend that digital thread from systems of record to systems of action, connecting digital twins with day-to-day operational workflows and real-world performance."
"AI is what increasingly turns this connected data and context into actionable project intelligence."
"As you can see from these examples, our customers are using more of Fusion's functional breadth with larger installations and design through make convergence to drive strong growth."
Analyst Q&A 12
How MaintainX data helps AI
Q (Saket Kalia · Barclays): Analyst asked how MaintainX operational data combines with Autodesk design and build data to create a data advantage for Autodesk AI.
A: Management said project intelligence captures decisions and intent across design, make and operations. MaintainX extends that intelligence into asset life cycles, capturing real-world asset function and closing the loop between design, build and operate, which increases value for customers.
"That is incredibly valuable data because the assets that we're talking about here, buildings, airports, conveyor belts, machines, they're all built by our customers." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
Guide prudence and M&E grouping
Q (Joshua Tilton · Wolfe): Analyst asked how much of the guide raise was organic versus inorganic and whether grouping M&E into Other signals less strategic focus.
A: Management clarified the billings and revenue moves: Janesh explained the underlying billings outlook improved and MaintainX and other factors contributed to the change. Andrew said the M&E business is undergoing change but remains strategically important and is being extended with new products and creator-economy efforts; M&E was put in Other mainly because it's a smaller business.
"The M&E business is definitely going under a lot of changes." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
Early MaintainX reactions and priorities
Q (Adam Borg · Stifel): Analyst asked about early customer feedback on going deeper into operations with MaintainX and the top R&D and GTM priorities post-close.
A: Management said customers in construction, architecture and manufacturing are engaging and see value in closing the loop around design, make and operate. The integration is very early; short-term focus is integrating back office and maintaining momentum, while future priorities include enterprise synergies, European expansion, moving MaintainX into AEC, and building the design-make-operate cycle.
"Our main focus right now is on integrating the back office and maintaining the momentum in the business." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
Project intelligence beyond AEC
Q (Jay Vleeschhouwer · Griffin): Analyst asked how project intelligence applies to manufacturing and whether lower market share there changes plans, and whether packaging will change away from bundles.
A: Management said 'project' applies across manufacturing and AEC; manufacturing products like Fusion already show deep AI usage and closed-loop projects from design to manufacturing to operations. On packaging, they expect evolution from task-based automations to workflow and system-level automations delivered via industry clouds (Fusion, Forma, Flow) with subscriptions still relevant but consumption changing over time.
"Every manufactured product is a project inside of the company." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
Fusion growth and API pricing
Q (Joseph Vruwink · Baird): Analyst asked whether Fusion user growth is accelerating with MCP connectors to LLMs and about API pricing changes and customer feedback.
A: Management said Fusion is doing well with growth in users, ACV, revenue and multi-seat purchases, helped by AI-forward automations and MCP connectors. On API pricing, customers know Autodesk will charge for APIs and machine-based usage; Autodesk listens to feedback and adjusts timelines but will continue to charge for machine-driven access to capabilities and IP.
"Customers are very much aware that we're going to be charging for APIs and machine-based usage." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
AI impact on margins and monetization
Q (Brent Thill · Jefferies): Analyst asked how Autodesk will report AI revenue and whether AI will compress gross margins like peers.
A: Management said task-based AI is embedded in subscriptions today and helps growth, while deeper workflow and system automations will produce more consumptive revenue over time via Flex and other channels. Janesh said gross margins can stay flat this year as modeled, but growing AI workloads will be gross profit accretive while putting modest compression on gross margin over time, which is included in their FY '29 margin target.
"We can this year, Brent, and that's what we've factored into the model." — Janesh Moorjani (CFO)
Flex pricing effects and sales reorg signs
Q (Elizabeth Elliott · Morgan Stanley): Analyst asked what changes they've seen since lowering Flex minimums and what leading indicators show the sales reorg disruption is easing.
A: Management said lowering Flex minimums led to downmarket adoption, matching customer needs for smaller token bundles, accelerating adoption and being net accretive. For the sales reorg, renewals productivity improved and expansion pipeline shows green shoots, though expansion ramp in mature Europe remains slower; sellers were closer to plan in Q2 versus Q1.
"So we are actually seeing downmarket changes in adoption based on those Flex changes." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
EBA renewals and MaintainX margin impact
Q (Jason Celino · KeyBanc): Analyst asked about EBA renewal visibility and the operating margin impact from acquiring MaintainX.
A: Janesh said fiscal '27 includes the largest EBA renewal cohort concentrated in Q4 and prior outlook already considered cohort dynamics; strong execution in Q2 gave confidence to raise billings outlook. He added MaintainX is a high-growth, unprofitable business that will drag operating margin in fiscal '27, with full-year costs and financing impacts next year, but operating margin is expected to increase in the following year.
"MaintainX does present a drag on operating margin in fiscal '27." — Janesh Moorjani (CFO)
Drivers for growth beyond FY'27
Q (Taylor McGinnis · UBS): Analyst asked whether tailwinds now will become headwinds and what growth drivers could sustain growth past FY '27.
A: Janesh said fiscal '27 benefits from the new transaction model that won't recur in FY '28 and FY '28 will include the full year of MaintainX plus continued normalization of new business productivity, especially in Western Europe. He emphasized core drivers remain strong—renewals, EBAs, demand in construction and industrial, opportunities in operations and MaintainX—and said they feel good about momentum into FY '28.
"First off, as you know, fiscal '27 has some benefit from the new transaction model that will not recur in fiscal '28." — Janesh Moorjani (CFO)
MaintainX go-to-market and future M&A
Q (Hoi-Fung Wong · Oppenheimer & Company): Analyst asked how MaintainX will be sold (direct vs partners), disruption risk, and whether future M&A could affect margin outlook for FY '28.
A: Andrew said short-term goal is to maintain momentum, exploit enterprise account synergies, leverage MaintainX's product-led growth machine, and use partners especially for Europe, copying earlier construction acquisition motions. Janesh said MaintainX is the cornerstone for operations and future tuck-ins will be smaller; fiscal '28 operating margin should improve over the 39% laid out, and future acquisitions follow the same playbook.
"They've also built a great product-led machine that's targeting customers and new account acquisition." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
Assistant role in workflow automation
Q (Matthew Martino · Goldman Sachs): Analyst asked what technology and data unlocks are needed to move from task AI to workflow automations and where the platform is furthest along.
A: Andrew said the Assistant is the integration layer that brings customer context and the right models to bear, and deeper engagement with the Assistant enables workflow automations; some indications will appear at AU. He added Fusion is the area furthest along in integrating capabilities and delivering Assistant-driven workflow value.
"The Assistant is kind of the integration layer that allows us to bring the context we have about what the customer is doing at each spot and also bring the right models to bear." — Andrew Anagnost (CEO)
Why reporting changes and MaintainX synergies
Q (Tyler Radke · Citi): Analyst asked why disclosure changes now and what metrics they'll share on construction and MaintainX revenue and how they think about revenue synergies for MaintainX.
A: Janesh said reporting changes were triggered by launching the operations business and closing MaintainX; they will give regular updates on construction (growing north of 20%), Fusion, operations, and provide MaintainX revenue for four quarters. He said MaintainX has strong stand-alone growth and revenue synergies include geographic expansion, enterprise account penetration, industry extension into AEC, and closing the lifecycle between design, make and operate while preserving existing growth.
"MaintainX already has very strong stand-alone growth momentum, Tyler." — Janesh Moorjani (CFO)