Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Updates Q4 2026 Earnings Guidance

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 6.300-6.350 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 6.090. The company issued revenue guidance of $6.8 billion-$6.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $6.8 billion. Adobe also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 24.450-24.500 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Adobe from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. UBS Group lowered Adobe from a “buy” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley cut Adobe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $365.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Phillip Securities downgraded Adobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on Adobe from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $280.32.

Adobe Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of ADBE traded down $6.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $248.83. 8,284,082 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,789,943. The company has a market cap of $98.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.42. Adobe has a 52 week low of $190.12 and a 52 week high of $370.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The software company reported $5.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.82 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 65.11% and a net margin of 28.69%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.06 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Adobe will post 19.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In other Adobe news, Director David A. Ricks purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.51 per share, with a total value of $1,945,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,655 shares in the company, valued at $3,434,074.05. The trade was a 130.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 416 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.33, for a total transaction of $109,961.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,010,797.92. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Adobe

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adobe is expanding Acrobat beyond traditional PDFs into an AI-powered productivity platform featuring enterprise search, content creation and other workflow tools. Management hopes broader adoption will create new growth opportunities and strengthen its position against Microsoft and Alphabet. Adobe Acrobat evolves beyond PDFs with enterprise search, AI content creation
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe’s AI initiatives, including Firefly and AI features embedded in Acrobat and Premiere, could help demonstrate monetization and support a more constructive earnings narrative. Analysts expect approximately $6.7 billion of revenue and adjusted EPS near $6.08 for the quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: The report is expected to be broadly in line with guidance, with Jefferies projecting 11.8% year-over-year revenue growth. Investors will focus less on the quarter’s headline results and more on remaining performance obligations, annual recurring revenue, AI demand, Firefly adoption and guidance.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options markets imply a sizable post-earnings move, reflecting unusually high uncertainty. Adobe previously exceeded its EPS consensus estimate, but historical earnings reactions have often been negative despite such beats.
• Negative Sentiment: AI-native competitors and products from Microsoft and Alphabet are raising questions about Adobe’s pricing power and long-term growth. Analysts also cite mixed demand, tougher comparisons and persistent concerns about subscription growth and the company’s freemium push. Adobe earnings preview: ARR concerns persist amid freemium push
• Negative Sentiment: The appointment of Anil Chakravarthy as incoming CEO, alongside an interim CFO and the end of Shantanu Narayen’s tenure, has increased execution risk. OpenAI also reportedly restricted advertising from competing image- and audio-generation products, potentially limiting a marketing channel Adobe had used. OpenAI restricts rival AI ad campaigns in ChatGPT

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Adobe

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADBE. State Street Corp grew its position in Adobe by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,632,009 shares of the software company’s stock worth $7,277,941,000 after buying an additional 352,448 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Adobe by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,888,283 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,711,583,000 after acquiring an additional 742,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Adobe by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,115,551 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,090,412,000 after acquiring an additional 65,175 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,678,236 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $937,356,000 after acquiring an additional 158,536 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,587,399 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $912,705,000 after acquiring an additional 920,353 shares during the period. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Adobe Company Profile

Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) develops software and services used for digital content creation, document management and digital experiences. The company serves creative professionals, marketers, enterprises, educators and consumers worldwide through subscription-based and cloud-enabled products.

Adobe’s Creative Cloud portfolio includes applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro and After Effects, along with related tools for photography, graphic design, video production and web development.