SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Autodesk Inc. ADSK, +2.70% on Thursday reported a fiscal third-quarter profit of $53.6 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenue of $477 million, compared with earnings of $29.5 million, or 13 cents a share, on $417 million in sales in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time items, the design-software company would have earned 32 cents a share, which met the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet Research, who also forecast the company to report sales of $471 million. For its fourth-quarter, Autodesk forecast earnings of 19 cents to 22 cents a share, and sales between $500 million and $520 million. Excluding special items, Autodesk estimates it will earn 30 cents to 33 cents a share.