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The Finance Base
Autodesk

How Much Money Does Autodesk Make? Revenue, Profit and Cash Flow Explained

Autodesk reported $7.206 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue and $1.934 billion in Q1 fiscal 2027. Here is how subscriptions, products, regions, profit and cash flow fit together.

By TheFinanceBase Team 4 min read
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Autodesk generated $7.206 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026, the year ended January 31, 2026, up 18% from approximately $6.131 billion in fiscal 2025. Its latest completed quarter available as of August 16, 2026—first-quarter fiscal 2027, ended April 30, 2026—produced $1.934 billion in revenue.

Those are sales figures, not profit. Autodesk also reported $2.452 billion in operating cash flow and $2.409 billion in free cash flow for fiscal 2026. Understanding the difference between revenue, billings, earnings and cash generation gives a more accurate picture of what the software company makes.

Autodesk’s latest financial figures

Autodesk’s fiscal year ends on January 31, so “fiscal 2026” covers the 12 months ending January 31, 2026—not calendar 2026.

Measure Result Period or qualification
Revenue $7.206 billion Fiscal 2026; up 18% year over year
Billings $7.771 billion Fiscal 2026; invoiced or contracted amounts
Operating cash flow $2.452 billion Fiscal 2026
Free cash flow $2.409 billion Fiscal 2026
Revenue $1.957 billion Fourth quarter fiscal 2026
Revenue $1.934 billion First quarter fiscal 2027, ended April 30, 2026
Subscription revenue $1.836 billion Q1 fiscal 2027, about 95% of quarterly revenue
Recurring revenue $1.881 billion Q1 fiscal 2027; up 18% year over year

Sources: Autodesk fiscal 2026 results and its Q1 fiscal 2027 Form 10-Q.

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Revenue is not the same as profit

“How much money does Autodesk make?” can refer to several different accounting measures:

  • Revenue is the sales Autodesk recognizes for software, cloud services and other offerings.
  • Billings are amounts invoiced or contracted. They can be higher than revenue when customers pay upfront for services delivered over time.
  • Profit is what remains after operating expenses, interest, taxes, stock compensation and other costs.
  • Cash flow measures cash generated by operations; free cash flow additionally reflects capital expenditures under Autodesk’s definition.

For fiscal 2026, Autodesk reported a 22% GAAP operating margin and a 38% non-GAAP operating margin. It reported GAAP earnings per share of $5.23 and non-GAAP EPS of $10.43. Non-GAAP results adjust for specified items such as stock-based compensation and should not be treated as equivalent to GAAP profit. The same fiscal year produced $2.452 billion of operating cash flow and $2.409 billion of free cash flow—cash measures, not earnings.

How Autodesk makes its revenue

Autodesk’s business is predominantly subscription-based. Subscriptions include term licenses, cloud service offerings and flexible enterprise business agreements (EBAs), with product access delivered across desktop, web, mobile and cloud features.

Revenue category Fiscal 2026 revenue
Subscription $6.743 billion
Maintenance $33 million
Subscription plus maintenance $6.776 billion
Other $430 million
Total $7.206 billion

Subscription and maintenance therefore represented approximately 93.7% of fiscal 2026 revenue, calculated from Autodesk’s reported figures. Autodesk generally recognizes subscription revenue ratably over the contract term. A customer’s invoice or cash payment can occur months before the related revenue appears in the income statement.

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Beginning in Q1 fiscal 2027, Autodesk changed the presentation of maintenance revenue by including it in subscription revenue; prior-period amounts were reclassified for comparison, without changing total revenue. Recurring revenue and subscription revenue are related but are not identical measures.

Which Autodesk businesses generate the most sales?

Reporting categories: Design and Make

Product type Fiscal 2026 revenue Share of total
Design $5.980 billion 83.0% (calculated)
Make $796 million 11.0% (calculated)
Other $430 million 6.0% (calculated)
Total $7.206 billion 100%

“Design” and “Make” are Autodesk reporting categories, not single products. Design covers much of its architecture, engineering, construction, CAD and design software. Make includes manufacturing and construction-related offerings.

Product families

Product family Fiscal 2026 revenue Year-over-year growth
Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations (AECO) $3.583 billion 22%
AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT $1.787 billion 14%
Manufacturing (MFG) $1.379 billion 16%
Media and Entertainment (M&E) $332 million 5%
Other $125 million 6%

AECO was Autodesk’s largest product family, contributing roughly half of total fiscal 2026 revenue when calculated from the reported figures. AutoCAD remains a major business, but it is not the whole company.

Recognizable products include AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT for 2D and 3D CAD; Revit and Civil 3D for building information modeling and civil engineering; Fusion for cloud-enabled product design, manufacturing, simulation and electronics; Inventor for mechanical design; Maya and 3ds Max for animation and visual effects; and Autodesk Construction Cloud and Forma for construction workflows. Autodesk describes its CAD and design portfolio at its product overview.

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Why billings and deferred revenue differ from sales

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, Autodesk reported $2.804 billion in billings, $4.693 billion in deferred revenue, $3.607 billion in unbilled deferred revenue and $8.300 billion in remaining performance obligations (RPO), including $5.479 billion expected to be recognized within the current portion.

  • Billings reflect invoicing or contract activity during a period.
  • Deferred revenue is cash or an invoice recorded before Autodesk has delivered the associated service; it is recognized as the service period passes.
  • RPO represents contracted obligations that have not yet been recognized as revenue. It is a forward-looking contractual measure, not current-period sales.

Consequently, billings can exceed revenue in a period with strong annual or upfront renewals. Neither billings nor RPO should be substituted for reported revenue.

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Where Autodesk earns its revenue

Fiscal 2026 geography

Region Revenue Year-over-year growth
Americas $3.178 billion 17%
Europe, Middle East and Africa $2.794 billion 21%
Asia Pacific $1.234 billion 11%
Total $7.206 billion 18%

The Americas was the largest region, while EMEA grew faster than Autodesk overall.

Latest quarter

In Q1 fiscal 2027, Autodesk reported $844 million from the Americas, $761 million from EMEA and $329 million from Asia Pacific, totaling $1.934 billion.

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How Autodesk sells its software

Autodesk uses direct sales as well as resellers and distributors. Its fiscal 2026 filing reported $3.568 billion of indirect-channel revenue and $2.563 billion of direct-channel revenue. Autodesk said approximately 63% of revenue was derived from direct sales, compared with approximately 42% in fiscal 2025. The company has been reducing reliance on intermediaries while retaining indirect channels in emerging markets and for support.

What is driving Autodesk’s growth?

Autodesk’s fiscal 2026 filing identified expansion among existing subscription customers as a primary reason subscription revenue increased. Its results also showed growth in AECO collections and enterprise agreements, AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, manufacturing collections and Fusion, along with broader direct transactions and cloud-enabled collaboration workflows.

Autodesk’s current outlook

With its fiscal 2026 results, Autodesk issued management guidance for fiscal 2027 of:

Measure Fiscal 2027 guidance
Revenue $8.10 billion–$8.17 billion
Billings $8.48 billion–$8.58 billion
GAAP operating margin 26%–28%
Non-GAAP operating margin 38.5%–39%
Free cash flow $2.70 billion–$2.80 billion

These are forecasts issued with the fiscal 2026 results, not achieved results, and can change. Annualizing Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue—$1.934 billion multiplied by four—produces an illustrative $7.736 billion run rate. That calculation is not Autodesk guidance and does not account for seasonality or future changes.

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The Bottom Line

Bottom line: Autodesk made $7.206 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue and $1.934 billion in its latest reported quarter. About 94% of fiscal 2026 sales came from subscription and maintenance revenue, with AECO the largest product family. The company also generated $2.409 billion in free cash flow, showing why revenue, profit and cash flow should be considered separately.

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