“Back in early February, shares of Avid Technology jumped sky-high on a seemingly terrific earnings report. That’s when I started a bearish CAPScall on the maker of software for media production,” Anders Bylund writes for The Motley Fool. “‘I think investors will wake up from this euphoric jump to find that Avid’s long-term prospects don’t measure up,’ I said. ‘Focusing on margin growth without destroying the underlying business is very, very hard. It’s a risky turnaround plan.'”
“Today, Avid is proving me right,” Bylund writes. “The company just published preliminary results for the first quarter. $152 million in sales fell far below the $160 million expected by Wall Street analysts. Management sees a GAAP operating loss of $15 million, which would be the weakest result since the spring of 2009… I feel pretty good about my call on Avid today as shares plunged more than 17% in after-hours action [yesterday]. At these prices, Avid has taken a 60% haircut over the last year and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the worst of it yet.”
Bylund writes, “The culprit of Avid’s disappointing numbers is a 30% year-over-year drop in sales to the enthusiast market… Apple is presumably stealing Avid’s enthusiast customers by the bucketload with its own desktop software, but also with the iPad product line that looks more attuned to media creation with every new iteration.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Here’s a bit of what our own SteveJack wrote shortly after Apple debuted Final Cut Pro X:
Is all the noise we’re hearing today really coming from Final Cut Pro users who still have their previous Final Cut version(s) and already know how to properly and rationally submit feedback to Apple?
Or is it coming from non-Final Cut Pro users who see the $299 writing on the wall and realize that they’ll soon very likely have to learn something dramatically new and different from outside their comfort zone? Apple’s previous Final Cut Pro versions have not stopped working, nor has Apple stopped work on FCP X – in fact, they’ve just started working with a paradigm-shifing, extremely strong and powerful foundation upon which to build. Have a minute of patience, please. I heard the same sort of whining when we went from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X and some had to be dragged kicking and screaming. People stopped crying over Mac OS 9 in short order, too.
Or who perhaps some editors feel a little bit threatened that “non-pro” users will be able to edit so well for so little? And/or perhaps it’s coming from Apple’s now price-demolished competition who simply cannot crunch their numbers and make them come out profitably if Apple is going to offer Final Cut Pro X for $299? – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, June 24, 2011
Related articles:
PC Magazine reviews Apple’s Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3: Editors’ Choice for high-end video editing – February 7, 2012
Apple significantly updates Final Cut Pro X – January 31, 2012
TV producer Bunim/Murray Productions drops Apple’s Final Cut for Avid editing software – January 4, 2012
Apple releases Final Cut Pro X 10.0.2 Update – November 17, 2011
Editor Walter Murch is feeling better about Final Cut Pro X – November 8, 2011
Apple releases major Final Cut Pro X update; debuts free 30-day full version trial – September 20, 2011
Film editor: Apple’s Final Cut Pro X is flexible, powerful, incredibly innovative software – September 12, 2011
Gartenberg on Final Cut Pro X: Why Apple dares to change your apps – July 17, 2011
IT Enquirer reviews Apple’s Final Cut Pro X: Very much a professional’s tool – July 8, 2011
Apple to allow additional Final Cut Pro 7 enterprise licenses; FCP X improvements coming soon – July 7, 2011
Former Avid employee on Final Cut Pro X: Only Apple seems capable of pushing boundaries – July 5, 2011
Why Apple built Final Cut Pro X – July 1, 2011
PC Magazine: Apple’s Final Cut Pro X makes serious leaps and bounds past its predecessor – June 30, 2011
Shake product designer explains Apple and Final Cut Pro X – June 29, 2011
Apple answers Final Cut Pro X questions; promises multicam editing and more – June 29, 2011
Change.org petition demands that Apple not change Final Cut Pro – June 27, 2011
Final Cut Pro X ‘backlash’ coming from competitors scared to death over Apple’s $299 price tag? – June 24, 2011
Conan blasts Apple’s new Final Cut Pro X (with video) – June 24, 2011
Answers to the unanswered questions about Apple’s new Final Cut Pro X – June 23, 2011
‘Professional’ video editors freak out over Final Cut Pro X – June 23, 2011
Apple revolutionizes video editing with Final Cut Pro X – June 21, 2011
