BMC's Q3 earnings better than expected

BMC Software reported better-than-expected earnings even though sales were shy of expectations in its fiscal third quarter.

The company reported fiscal third quarter earnings of $120 million, or 71 cents a share, on revenue of $548 million, up 2 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings for the third quarter were 93 cents a share.

Wall Street was looking for earnings of 82 cents a share on revenue of $555.9 million.

In a statement, BMC CEO Bob Beauchamp said the company saw strong demand for cloud management and software as a service tools. The company is also working through sales issues related to its enterprise service management applications, he said. Beauchamp added that the company is set up for gains in fiscal 2013.

However, total bookings fell 12 percent in the quarter relative to a year ago.

As for the outlook, BMC said it is expecting flat bookings growth, revenue gains in the mid-single digits and non-GAAP earnings of $3.26 to $3.34 a share. That guidance excludes the recent acquisition of Numara Software.