Autodesk Activist Drama Unfolds As Starboard Reportedly Gears Up For Proxy Fight: Retail Traders Divided

Shares of engineering design software maker Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) could see some activity on Wednesday after a report said activist investor Starboard, citing stock underperformance, was prepared for a proxy war with the company.

Over the past year, Autodesk stock underperformed the broader market and the tech sector.  

Chart Courtesy of TradingView

An exclusive Wall Street Journal report said Starboard, led by CEO Jeff Smith, was looking to nominate a minority slate of director candidates ahead of Autodesk’s annual shareholders’ meeting.

The report noted that Starboard failed last year to block a board meeting after failing to nominate directors by the March deadline. 

After the Journal disclosed a Starboard stake in Autodesk last summer, the activist investor said it wanted the company to reassess its longtime CEO, Andrew Anagnost.

Autodesk stock is trading well off its Aug. 2021 all-time high of $344.39. A delay in filing the annual report for the year ended Jan. 2024 and disclosure regarding the investigation into its accounting practices dragged the stock lower last year. The stock bottomed at $189.54 in early May.

The weakness continued this year despite Autodesk reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results in late February and issuing above-consensus guidance. The company also announced optimization initiatives, including job cuts to reallocate resources to critical areas such as artificial intelligence (AI).

ADSK sentiment and message volume March 19, as of 4:51 am ET | Source: Stocktwits

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Autodesk stock remained ‘neutral’, and the message volume stayed ‘extremely low.’

Autodesk stock has declined over 12% this year and traded in a 52-week range of $195.32-$326.52.

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