Based in Bedford, MA, Aspen Technologies (AZPN – Free Report) is a company that provides process optimization software solutions. One of its primary products, aspenONE, is a software that has been developed specifically for companies in the broad process industries like energy, chemicals, engineering, and construction.

AspenTech’s performance in its recent fourth quarter was strong. Earnings of 59 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus and also surpassed the higher end of the company’s management’s guided range of 53-55 cents per share. Revenues came in line with our consensus, also came ahead of the higher end of management’s projected range.

Thanks to an increase in subscription and software revenues—up 3.5% year-over-year—total revenues inched up around 2% year-over-year; impressive performance of its Asset Performance Management (APM) suite and SMB business also drove growth.

Additionally, annual spend, which is the annualized value of all term license and maintenance contracts at the end of Q4, was roughly $489 million, up 6.4% from the prior year period.

AspenTech generated $79.1 million cash from operations in the quarter compared with $73.1 million reported in the previous quarter. Free cash flow came in at $79.5 million compared with $78.1 million at the end of the previous quarter.

In its Q4 earnings release, Antoni Pietri, President and CEO, said “AspenTech ended fiscal 2018 with a solid performance across all areas of the business.  Our results reflect encouraging signs of improvement among Engineering & Construction customers, as well as continued strength from our owner-operator customers.”

“We are pleased with the significant progress made with APM in its first year in the market and believe we are well positioned to generate meaningful growth from this market opportunity in fiscal 2019 and beyond,” he continued.

Aspen Technology, Inc. Price and Consensus