By Michael Krey

Autodesk (ADSK) stock jumped to an all-time high Friday after the pioneering maker of computer-aided design software late Thursday gave better-than-expected guidance for the current quarter and posted a fiscal Q2 that beat on the top and bottom lines.

The software maker said it had a record increase in cloud subscriptions for the quarter ended July 31, “as our customers and partners embrace a model that has greater flexibility and a better user experience,” Autodesk CEO Carl Bass said in the company’s earnings release.

Autodesk stock was up 5%, near 67, in morning trading Friday, and it rose as much as 5.4%, to 67.18, in early trading in the stock market today.

The company is transitioning to selling its software as a service — on demand via the internet cloud — instead of the formerly standard way of selling software via perpetual licenses, as cloud computing rising to the fore. The company’s software is used by customers such as construction, engineering and manufacturing companies to design products and simulate the real-world performance of those products.

“Autodesk’s move to the cloud should give the company more subscription revenue, which should ultimately provide it better visibility, more consistency in its financial results and very compelling cash flows,” Pacific Crest analysts wrote in a research note.

Read the full article at: www.investors.com

And check out how Zuora helps software companies transition to a subscriptions-based SaaS model.