Tag Archives: Advent Software

Is Advent Software Good Enough for You?

By Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Margins matter. The more Advent Software (NAS: ADVS) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That’s why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I’m looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Advent Software‘s competitive position could be.

Here’s the current margin snapshot for Advent Software over the trailing 12 months: Gross margin is 68.7%, while operating margin is 14.7% and net margin is 8.5%.

Unfortunately, a look at the most recent numbers doesn’t tell us much about where Advent Software has been, or where it’s going. A company with rising gross and operating margins often fuels its growth by increasing demand for its products. If it sells more units while keeping costs in check, its profitability increases. Conversely, a company with gross margins that inch downward over time is often losing out to competition, and possibly engaging in a race to the bottom on prices. If it can’t make up for this problem by cutting costs — and most companies can’t — then both the business and its shares face a decidedly bleak outlook.

Of course, over the short term, the kind of economic shocks we recently experienced can drastically affect a company’s profitability. That’s why I like to look at five fiscal years’ worth of margins, along with the results for the trailing 12 months, the last fiscal year, and last fiscal quarter (LFQ). You can’t always reach a hard conclusion about your company’s health, but you can better understand what to expect, and what to watch.

Here’s the margin picture for Advent Software over the past few years.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Because of seasonality in some businesses, the numbers for the last period on the right — the TTM figures — aren’t always comparable to the FY results preceding them. To compare quarterly margins to their prior-year levels, consult this chart.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FQ = fiscal quarter.

Here’s how the stats break down:

  • Over the past five years, gross margin peaked at 71.6% and averaged 69.3%. Operating margin peaked at 14.7% and averaged 11.9%. Net margin peaked at 14.2% and averaged 9.7%.
  • TTM gross margin is 68.7%, 60 basis points worse than the five-year average. TTM operating margin is 14.7%, 280 basis points …read more

    Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Why Advent Software Shares Dropped

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Although we don’t believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes — just in case they’re material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of accounting software maker Advent Software dropped today by as much as 12% after the company said it will not pursue a sale.

So what: Reports that Advent was potentially considering a sale sent shares higher last week on hopes that the company could be acquired by a private equity firm. At the time, there was reportedly a large gap between what Advent was seeking and what prospective buyers were bidding. Today, Advent said it would continue on as an independent company.

Now what: CEO Pete Hess said the company went through a “thorough process” to evaluate the various strategic alternatives with the assistance of Qatalyst Partners, which served as Advent’s financial advisor. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati also served as legal counsel throughout the process. Hess said the board believes that shareholder value can be maximized under Advent’s current strategic plan.

Interested in more info on Advent Software? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

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The article Why Advent Software Shares Dropped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Advent Software Will Remain Independent

By Rich Smith, The Motley Fool

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A week ago, shares of Advent Software popped in response to a Reuters report that the company was looking into the possible sale of the company — presumably at a premium.

Today, it’s the inflated stock price that’s dropping, in response to a press release from the company stating that the company was looking into the strategic alternatives available to it and has decided not to sell itself.

In a statement, the company’s Board announced: “It is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders to continue to execute on its strategic plan as an independent company.”

Advent shares, which already trade for a hefty 46.7 times earnings, are down 5.2% on the news, falling to $27.35 in recent trading, which is above the March 11 closing price notched the day before the Reuters report came out.

link

The article Advent Software Will Remain Independent originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Why Advent Software Shares Popped

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Although we don’t believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes — just in case they’re material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Advent Software have popped today by as much as 12% on reports that the company is exploring a possible sale.

So what: Reuters exclusively reported that Advent has tapped investment bank Qatalyst Partners to spearhead a possible sale of the company. The data software maker had a market value of $1.3 billion before the move, and there has reportedly been some interest from multiple private equity firms.

Now what: The company is at the second round of bidding, according to sources, but there is still a large gap between what the company is looking for and what prospective buyers are willing to pay. The auction may not lead to a deal due to this spread, and neither Advent nor Qatalyst responded to requests for comment. Shares have tapped fresh 52-week highs on the speculation.

Interested in more info on Advent Software? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

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The article Why Advent Software Shares Popped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Why Advent Software's Earnings Are Outstanding

By Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool

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Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company’s economic output. That’s because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings’ unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

Calling all cash flows

When you are trying to buy the market’s best stocks, it’s worth checking up on your companies’ free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That’s what we do with this series. Today, we’re checking in on Advent Software (NAS: ADVS) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. FCF = free cash flow. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over the past 12 months, Advent Software generated $79.7 million cash while it booked net income of $30.4 million. That means it turned 22.2% of its revenue into FCF. That sounds pretty impressive.

All cash is not equal
Unfortunately, the cash flow statement isn’t immune from nonsense, either. That’s why it pays to take a close look at the components of cash flow from operations, to make sure that the cash flows are of high quality. What does that mean? To me, it means they need to be real and replicable in the upcoming quarters, rather than being offset by continual cash outflows that don’t appear on the income statement (such as major capital expenditures).

For instance, cash flow based on cash net income and adjustments for non-cash income-statement expenses (like depreciation) is generally favorable. An increase in cash flow based on stiffing your suppliers (by increasing accounts payable for the short term) or shortchanging Uncle Sam on taxes will come back to bite investors later. The same goes for decreasing accounts receivable; this is good to see, but it’s ordinary in recessionary times, and you can only increase collections so much. Finally, adding stock-based compensation expense back to cash flows is questionable when a company hands out a lot of equity to employees and uses cash in later periods to buy back those shares.

So how does the cash flow at Advent Software look? Take a peek at …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance