Topic: Growth Stocks

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $39 – Nasdaq symbol ADBE

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $39 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 498.8 million; Market cap: $19.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.4; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) earned $307.9 million in the fourth quarter of its 2012 fiscal year, which ended November 30, 2012. That’s down 7.4% from $332.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 9.0%, to $0.61 from $0.67, on more shares outstanding. Revenue was flat at $1.15 billion. Adobe continues to spend a high 17% of its revenue on research.

Adobe is doing a good job of selling its Creative Cloud package of photo-editing and desktop-publishing programs as a subscription service instead of a one-time purchase. It sold 10,000 Creative Cloud subscriptions a week in the fourth quarter, up from 8,000 in the third quarter. As a result, subscription revenue jumped 51.5% from a year earlier and now accounts for 17% of Adobe’s total revenue. The company still gets 74% of its revenue from direct sales of software. Services and support supply the remaining 9%.

Moving to a subscription model will slow Adobe’s short-term revenue and earnings growth, but it should give the company steadier revenue streams.

Adobe is still a hold.

Comments

Tell Us What YOU Think

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Please be respectful with your comments and help us keep this an area that everyone can enjoy. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Terms of Use, please click here to report it to the administrator.