What happened
Shares of Dassault Systemes (DASTY 0.14%) closed 9.8% higher Wednesday, after the French 3-D design software maker reported Q4 2018 earnings and revenues that exceeded its own guidance.
Total sales for the fiscal fourth quarter came in at 1.04 billion euros ($1.19 billion), as calculated according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS -- similar to GAAP). That was ahead of prior guidance for sales between 982 million and 1 billion euros. Earnings per share were 0.78 euros.
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So what
Compared with the year-ago quarter, Dassault's sales grew 14%, with software sales in particular up 12%. Earnings per share, on the other hand, declined 1% year over year. This was a weak end to Dassault's full fiscal year, which saw sales rise only 8% -- but profits rise 8%, to 2.18 euros per share.
Now what
CFO Pascal Daloz predicted that Q1 2019 will see the company take in 925 million to 945 million euros in revenue on a non-IFRS basis (similar to U.S. pro forma results) -- about 11% to 13% year-over-year growth. Non-IFRS profits are expected to range from 0.78 to 0.82 euros, growth of between 8% and 13%
For the full year, Dassault believes it can achieve 10% to 11% non-IFRS revenue growth to about 3.81 billion to 3.84 billion euros, and non-IFRS EPS of about 3.35 to 3.40 euros, representing growth of about 7% to 9%.
