Macromedia on downstream for quarter

During trading today, Macromedia's (MACR) stock fell six percent, a day after the company announced that financial results were down for the second quarter.

Macromedia's stock fell to 18 from 19-1/4 at yesterday's close. Its 52-week high was 63-3/4 per share, and its low was 14-1/8.

Net income fell 15 percent to $4.6 million, down from $5.4 million last year. It has also dropped almost a third from last quarter, when the company reported net profits of $7.1 million.

Revenues, meanwhile, reached $31 million, up 14 percent from $27.3 million the year earlier. But revenues during the first quarter were higher at $35 million.

In the second quarter, Macromedia announced its suite of Internet tools, the FreeHand Graphics Studio 7, shipped its latest version of Shockwave, and introduced AppletAce, a Java application. Sales from its Windows products accounted for 49 percent of the second quarter sales.

Bud Colligan, Macromedia's company chairman and CNET board member, said that "we were pleased to see continued demand for our Windows products, as well as the growing contribution from international sales." The first quarter revenue from Windows products was up over 100 percent from the same quarter in 1995.

During the quarter, Macromedia and Netscape Communications announced a licensing and distribution agreement. Netscape plans to incorporate its Shockwave plug-in and Fireworks, a Java-based application program interface, into Navigator.

Meanwhile, Rob Burgess will take over as company president on November 1. Colligan left that position at the end of August. Burgess was formerly a senior vice president at Silicon Graphics.