Apple dispute will weigh on Adobe

Article Excerpt

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $32.44 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; SI Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 526.4 million; Market cap: $17.1 billion) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. As well, graphic designers use Adobe’s software to create print publications and web pages. The company also makes Adobe Flash, which lets web site developers make web pages more interactive by adding animation and video. Computer users can download Adobe’s Flash Player viewer for free. In its first quarter, which ended March 5, 2010, Adobe earned $211.7 million, or $0.40 a share. That’s down 10.6% from $236.8 million, or $0.45 a share, a year earlier. These figures exclude several unusual items, including costs related to Adobe’s recent $1.6-billion purchase of Omniture Inc., which makes software that measures and analyzes web-site traffic. Revenue rose 9.2%, to $858.7 million from $786.4 million. Omniture contributed $87.7 million to Adobe’s revenue in the latest quarter; that was the main reason for…