adobe
Adobe is a multinational software company best known for its creative and digital media products. Founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, Adobe originally focused on desktop publishing and revolutionized the industry with its PostScript technology. Over time, it expanded into a broad suite of tools that support graphic design, video editing, photography, and web development. Flagship products like Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat have become industry standards, widely used by professionals and hobbyists alike.
In recent years, Adobe has transitioned from a traditional software licensing model to a cloud-based subscription service known as Adobe Creative Cloud. This shift has allowed users to access software updates more frequently and collaborate more easily across devices. Beyond creative tools, Adobe has also built a strong presence in digital marketing and analytics through its Adobe Experience Cloud, offering businesses solutions for customer data management, advertising, and personalized content delivery.
Adobe continues to play a significant role in shaping the digital economy by enabling creativity, communication, and digital transformation. Its innovations in artificial intelligence, such as Adobe Sensei, enhance automation and streamline workflows across its platforms. As content creation and digital experiences become increasingly important across industries, Adobe remains a key player, continually adapting its technologies to meet evolving user needs.
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Some investors worry that Washington’s $700 billion bailout of the banking industry is going to fall apart, and that this will lead to a rise in gold and a drop in the stock market. We think the bailout will go through. The only obstacle to it is the political bickering and posturing that is bound to go into a highly visible effort like this, all the more so just prior to a presidential election. There is always a possibility that the market will move lower from here. Meanwhile, gold will stay volatile. But we still feel stock prices will hit bottom over the next month or two, then move up for six months or more. GABRIEL RESOURCES, $2.06, symbol GBU on Toronto, now believes that the upcoming November elections in Romania will result in a positive political decision on the future of its 80%-owned Rosia Montana gold project in Romania....
Today’s rebound in the market is reassuring, but I expect stocks to remain highly volatile for a month or more. After that, we could see a six-month rebound in prices. The U.S. bailout of major financial institutions raises inflation risk over the next few years, but it heads off panic. Nobody can predict market bottoms, but I suspect we are much closer to the bottom than the top. ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $40.94, symbol ADBE on Nasdaq, rose this week after reporting earnings that exceeded consensus expectations. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share in the three months ended August 29, 2008 rose 11.1%, to $0.50 from $0.45 a year earlier. That beat expectations 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 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.
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 billion. That gives it lots of room to finance new product development. The company spends a high 19% of sales on research....
Plenty of funds for development
SONY CORP. ADRs $37.83, New York symbol SNE, fell roughly 10% this week after it reported earnings that fell short of consensus forecasts. In its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2008, earnings fell 39.2%, to $0.31 per ADR from $0.51 a year earlier. The drop was mainly due to lower profits at its TV division, where intense price competition and rising raw material costs have squeezed profit margins. Lower results from its cellphone and movie operations also contributed to the weaker earnings. However, overall sales improved 16.2%, to $18.7 billion from $16.1 billion. If you disregard foreign currency changes, sales were unchanged. The slowing U.S. economy and weak dollar could hurt Sony’s growth in fiscal 2009. But recent cost cuts should improve its long-term profitability. As well, rising sales of its PlayStation 3 video game player should lead to more licensing revenue from game designers. Sony is a buy for long-term gains....
Watch Pat McKeough’s June 20 interview on the Business News Network “Market Call” program with Michael Hainsworth. Click on: http://watch.bnn.ca/market-call/june-2008/market-call-june-20-2008/#clip61441 to see the interview. Or, go to www.bnn.ca and you’ll find the link on the lower right side of the page....
Watch Pat McKeough’s June 20 interview on the Business News Network “Market Call” program with Michael Hainsworth. Click on: http://watch.bnn.ca/market-call/june-2008/market-call-june-20-2008/#clip61441 to see the interview. Or, go to www.bnn.ca and you’ll find the link on the lower right side of the page....
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES INC. $124 (New York symbol IBM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $173.6 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) earned $1.65 a share in the three months ended March 31, 2008, up 36.4% from $1.21 a year earlier. Revenue rose 11.4%, to $24.5 billion from $22.0 billion. IBM continues to gain from its strategy of expanding its software operations, which generate higher profit margins than hardware sales. Software revenue grew 14% in the latest quarter. IBM also gets over 60% of its revenue from its international operations, which limits its exposure to a slowing economy in the United States. IBM is a buy....
BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $18 (New York symbol BR: SI Rating: Extra risk) (201-714- 3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 140 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion) fell to as low as $15.25 a share recently after Standard & Poor’s lowered its credit rating on certain of the company’s obligations. The shares have since regained all of the drop. S&P is concerned that Broadridge is taking on too much risk, especially at its Ridge Clearing subsidiary, given today’s difficult financial environment in the U.S. Broadridge offers services to the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications; securities processing; and transaction clearing. Broadridge mails and processes 70% of all proxy votes. The company stands to gain from the increasing complexity of securities regulations and increasing levels of share ownership....
YAMANA GOLD $15.35, symbol YRI on Toronto, reports that earnings excluding one-time items were $0.06 a share in the three months ended December 31, 2007, compared to nil per share a year earlier. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Cash flow per share rose to $0.07 from $0.01. Revenues more than tripled to $218.6 million from $60 million. Earnings rose even though operating costs were higher and the Brazilian real rose 20% against the U.S. dollar. Most of Yamana’s costs are in Brazil, while the metal it sells is priced in U.S. dollars. Lower copper prices also hurt profits. Despite the higher profits, the stock fell because its earnings failed to meet consensus expectations. However, Yamana’s recent acquisition of Meridian and Northern Orion, plus earlier acquisitions, will give it an estimated 1.3 million ounces of gold production in 2008, and up to 2.2 million ounces by 2012. The company could generate more than $2 billion in cash flow annually by 2010....
ADOBE SYSTEMS $34.45, symbol ADBE on Nasdaq, rose over 8% this week after it reported earnings that exceeded consensus expectations. In the three months ended February 29, 2008, earnings per share excluding one-time items jumped 60%, to $0.48 from $0.30 a year earlier. Revenues rose 37.1%, to $890.4 million from $649.4 million. The increase came from strong sales of its Creative Suite 3 products and Acrobat software. Adobe holds cash of $1.7 billion or $3.06 a share, and has little long-term debt. The company has plenty of financing for new product development. Adobe spends a high 18.9% of sales on research and development. Adobe now trades at 21.0 times this year’s forecast earnings of $1.64 a share. That’s reasonable in light of its growth prospects....