Updating ADOBE SYSTEMS, LEON’S FURNITURE LTD., and ZARGON OIL & GAS.

Article Excerpt

ADOBE SYSTEMS $44.90 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 495.1 million; Market cap: $22.2 billion; No dividends paid) reports that its earnings excluding one-time items fell 37.5% in its fiscal 2013 first quarter, which ended March 1, 2013, to $177.9 million, or $0.35 a share. A year earlier, it earned $284.5 million, or $0.57 a share. Revenue declined 3.6%, to $1.01 billion from $1.05 billion. Adobe is doing a good job of selling its Creative Cloud package of photo-editing and desktoppublishing programs as a subscription service instead of a one-time purchase. The company added 153,000 Creative Cloud subscribers during the quarter, to bring its total to 479,000. As a result, its subscription revenue jumped 53.4% from a year earlier and now accounts for 22% of its overall revenue. Adobe still gets 67% of its revenue from direct software sales. Services and support supply the remaining 11%. Moving to a subscription model will slow Adobe’s short-term revenue…