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Adobe (ADBE) Stock Spikes on Q2 Earnings Beat: Should You Buy?

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Adobe Systems (ADBE - Free Report) reported second quarter earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday. The company was able to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by five cents a share with a reported $1.83 EPS, up 10.2% from the same quarter the previous year. This EPS surprise of +2.81% sent shares up over 4% after market close. In addition, Adobe reported quarterly revenue of $2.74 billion that was also able to beat our consensus estimate. The company’s digital media segment rose 22% to $1.89 million.

Adobe was, in part, able to achieve this strong quarterly report after switching their company focus to the fast-growing cloud business. Adobe posted a cloud subscription increase of 27.7% bringing in revenue of $2.46 billion. However, Adobe faces some fierce competition in this market from tech giants like Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) , and Salesforce.com (CRM - Free Report) . In March, Adobe partnered with Microsoft in an attempt to boost its marketing software capabilities. The strong quarter comes as the company is up over 27% year-to-date, outperforming the broader software market.

 

Going Forward

Despite a strong outing for the quarter, the company’s revenue guidance for next quarter was a bit under what analysts were looking for. Adobe is expecting earnings of $1.95 per share with revenue of $2.80 billion, which was lower than what analysts polled by Refinitiv expected.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen stated in a conference call that the software company picked up some new business from Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) . Narayen also said that they would continue their first half momentum into the second half of the year. Adobe’s shift to cloud-based subscriptions brings in a more predictable revenue stream for the company; it allows the company to sell their software through web-based subscriptions instead of selling through packaged licensed software. With the way modern markets have switched to digital sales, this adjustment could prove to further the company’s development within a constantly changing industry.

Bottom Line

Adobe is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The stock has a Style Score of F, as it is currently trading at 35X its forward earnings, which is above the industry average. The stock’s P/CF (price-to-cash-flow) of 43.5 also indicates the company is currently trading at a much higher price than the rest of its industry peers.

On the other hand, Adobe has a Style Score of B in Growth. According to Zacks Estimates, Adobe has projected EPS growth of 15.59% as well as a projected sales growth of 23.45% for the current fiscal year. Both metrics surpass industry averages, distinguishing the stock as a true growth prospect within the industry.

Adobe can also attract momentum seeking investors, as the stock is currently listed with a Zacks Style Score of A for Momentum. The software stock has a 12-week price change of +4.21% and has gone up over 5% today setting a new 52 week high. The company’s 20-day average volume is over 2 million, and its recent quarterly success are more than enough to cater to momentum-based investors. If investors can look past the company’s current inflated valuation, then there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel for Adobe.

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