Adobe Shares Up As Q1 Profit Tops Street

(RTTNews) - Enterprise software maker Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE), Thursday reported an increase in profit for the first quarter, as revenues rose reflecting strong cloud revenue growth. The Photoshop maker's earnings topped Wall Street estimates as did revenues.

San Jose, California-based Adobe's first-quarter profit rose to $398.4 million or $0.80 per share from $254.3 million or $0.50 per share last year.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter rose to $0.94 per share from $0.66 per share last year. On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.87 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Adobe said its revenue for the quarter rose to $1.68 billion from $1.38 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.65 billion for the quarter.

Digital Media segment revenue was $1.14 billion, with Creative revenue growing to a record $942 million, Adobe said in a statement.

CFO Mark Garrett said, "Adobe achieved record revenue, profit and cash flow in Q1. Our solid execution and business momentum combined with strong market tailwinds give us confidence in our ability to continue to deliver strong financial results. We remain bullish about our prospects for the rest of 2017 and beyond."

Adobe has been focusing on cloud based subscriptions to boost revenue. Its Creative Cloud software as a service offering gives users access to a range of its software, for a monthly or annual subscription. Customers prefer the cloud route instead of buying individual products and software suites for a licensee fee.

Adobe Marketing Cloud achieved record revenue of $477 million for the quarter.

ADBE closed Thursday's trading at $122.35, up $0.24 or 0.20%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further rose $4.45 or 3.65% in the after-hours trading.