Two Niche Software Stocks With Gains Ahead

Article Excerpt

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $44.28 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; SI Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 530.5 million; Market cap: $23.5 billion) develops, sells and supports computer software products and technologies that let users create paper documents, and create and manipulate electronic documents. It’s a leader in graphic arts and desktop publishing software. Adobe’s two main software products are Acrobat (electronic documents) and PhotoShop (photo editing). Both products dominate their respective markets. In the three months ended May 30, 2008, Adobe’s revenues rose 19.0%, to $886.9 million from $745.6 million. (All figures in U.S. dollars.) The increase came from strong sales of its Creative Suite 3 products and Acrobat software. Growing demand in Europe and Japan helped offset soft sales in North America. Earnings per share excluding one-time items rose 35.1%, to $0.50 from $0.37. Plenty of funds for development Adobe holds cash of $1.9 billion or roughly $3.45 a share. Debt of $350.0 million is a low 16% of its market cap of $21.6…