Autodesk board considers CEO change and cost cuts at Starboard's urging.

• Starboard Value, an activist investor, is urging Autodesk to reevaluate whether CEO Andrew Anagnost is still the best fit for the company.
• Earlier this year, Starboard revealed a $500 million stake in the company and pointed out the underperformance of margins and missed investor targets in a presentation to Autodesk's board.
• Despite a Delaware court ruling that halted the activist investor's proxy fight at the company earlier this year, led by Jeff Smith, Starboard remains determined to continue its efforts.

Starboard Value, an activist investor, has been interacting with the board of and is still pushing for better operations and financial performance, as stated in a CNBC report based on a presentation viewed by the network.

According to the presentation, Starboard is requesting that Autodesk's board evaluate whether CEO Andrew Anagnost, who has been with the company for seven years, is the best fit to lead the company into the future.

In recent weeks, the board of Autodesk has received the presentation's findings from the activist investor, who disclosed a $500 million stake in the company earlier this year.

Starboard is advocating for cost reductions and a revised executive compensation plan, which it believes can enhance profit margins by up to 10%.

According to Starboard's presentation, the improvement in margin would lead to better operating leverage, and the activist suggests that Autodesk can use its free-cash flow for share buybacks.

An activist has pointed out Autodesk's poor track record with investor communications, stating in their presentation that the company has missed or is on track to miss every investor day commitment it has made since 2018. These misses have all been under Anagnost's leadership.

Since Anagnost took over, Autodesk has underperformed its benchmark indexes in every annual time frame, according to Starboard's analyses. Despite this, Autodesk shares have returned 113% over a seven-year window, which is significantly less than the Dow Jones' US Software benchmark's 362% return over the same period.

Despite the technology sector's strong performance this year, Autodesk shares have remained in a struggle, as they did earlier this year when the company revealed accounting irregularities caused by executives, which negatively impacted the stock price.

Deborah Clifford was removed from her position as finance chief and appointed as chief strategy officer following an investigation into misconduct. Starboard has consistently pointed out the accounting irregularities and expressed concern that the company has not adequately addressed the issue.

Recently, Starboard had a 10% decline in shares year to date, which was revealed when the company announced that Starboard had acquired a stake in it and planned to launch a proxy battle.

A Delaware judge cut short those efforts in the short term, but Starboard has not shown any signs of relenting and continues to press the company and shareholders for change.

Autodesk's gross margin of 93% was significantly higher than the peer median of 82%, but its operating margin of 35% was below average.

Jeff Smith, managing member of Starboard, has a reputation for deep analysis of targeted companies, as evidenced by their recent campaigns at Tinder parent, domain registrar and hosting provider.

Representatives for Autodesk did not immediately return a request for comment.