Topic: Growth Stocks

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $74.00 – Nasdaq symbol ADBE

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $74.00 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 498.7 million; Market cap: $36.9 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. Graphic designers also use its programs to create print publications and web pages.

In its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter, which ended November 28, 2014, Adobe earned $180.3 million, up 9.5% from $164.6 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings improved 12.5%, to $0.36 from $0.32, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 3.0%, to $1.07 billion from $1.04 billion.

Adobe continues to shift to a subscription-based model for selling software. It now gets 66% of its sales from recurring subscriptions, up from 44% a year ago.

The company ended fiscal 2014 with 3.45 million subscribers to its Creative Cloud package of photo editing and desktop publishing programs, up 140% from a year ago. Revenue from Adobe Marketing Cloud, for improving online marketing efforts and website performance, rose to a record $1.2 billion in 2014.

Adobe has also agreed to pay $800 million for Fotolia, which sells over 34 million royalty-free photographs, graphics and video, mainly to website developers. Adobe plans to incorporate Fotolia into Creative Cloud and operate it as a stand-alone service.

The company continues to spend a high 20% of its revenue on research, which helps it compete in its rapidly changing industry. However, the stock now trades at 35.2 times the $2.10 a share that Adobe will likely earn in fiscal 2015. That’s a high p/e ratio for a company that mainly serves clients in cyclical businesses like publishing.

Adobe is still a hold.

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