By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Autodesk Inc. plunged
Friday, sustaining the worst drop within the S&P 500 index,
after the software company's disappointing results left investors
stunned.
The shares shed 14% to stand at $30.88.
Late Thursday, Autodesk (ADSK) missed revenue forecasts for the
second quarter of fiscal 2013 and cut its outlook, in what
Jefferies & Co. analyst Ross MacMillan called "a big step
back."
"In a surprise to us, Autodesk missed Street revenues by 4%,
blaming execution and soft demand," he wrote.
The decline set the tone for a downbeat session for the tech
sector. The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) shed a fraction to 3,047,
leaving the benchmark on track to end the week in the red.
The S&P 500 (SPX) also was off a fraction, with tech losses
also coming from Adobe Systems (ARUN), down 4%, and Netflix Inc.
(NFLX), off 3%.
Salesforce.com (CRM) saw its shares slip a fraction, recovering
from deeper losses, a day after the company posted a mixed business
outlook.
On the upbeat side, shares of Aruba Networks (ARUN) jumped more
than 17% after the networking company reported upbeat third-quarter
results and issued a better-than-expected forecast.
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