Adobe Gains on Strong Software Sales

Article Excerpt

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $39 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; 530.4 million; Market cap: $20.7 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) earned $0.50 a share in its third fiscal quarter ended August 29, 2008, up 11.1% from $0.45 a year earlier. These figures exclude one-time items. The latest earnings also beat the consensus forecast of $0.46 a share. Revenues rose 4.2%, to $887.3 million from $851.7 million. In the latest quarter, stronger sales of established products such as Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop software boosted Adobe’s revenues and earnings. However, sales of its Creative Suite 3 software fell 10%, as customers delayed purchases to wait for the launch of the new Creative Suite 4. That upgrade will be available in the fourth quarter of 2008. Adobe holds cash of $2 billion or $3.77 a share. Long-term debt of $350 million is a low 1.7% of its market cap. That gives the company plenty of room to finance new product development. Adobe is…