Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) reported record third-quarter revenue of $6.76bn on 10 September 2026, up 13% year-on-year. The print beat Wall Street forecasts, yet the shares fell.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share came in at $6.13, up 15% on the year and ahead of the $6.07 consensus estimate. Chief executive Shantanu Narayen said the results reflected ‘the strength of our AI innovation, expanding customer reach and leadership across creativity, productivity and customer experience’.
Record top line, thinner profit growth
GAAP diluted EPS was $4.62, up 11% year-on-year, while GAAP net income rose only about 3% to $1.83bn, as a heavier tax charge absorbed most of the pretax profit gain. The gap between 13% revenue growth and single-digit net income growth marks a departure from the pattern of recent quarters.
Adobe’s quarterly filings show revenue climbing steadily through the period: from $5.18bn in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 to $6.40bn in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 and $6.62bn in the second quarter, the most recent filed before this print, according to SEC filings. Diluted EPS across those quarters rose from $1.36 to $4.25, tracking the same upward trend. The company had already marketed the second quarter as a record, with $6.62bn in revenue, according to a press release exhibit filed with the SEC, meaning Wednesday’s figures extend rather than break a multi-quarter run of superlatives.
Guidance undershoots, CEO handoff disclosed
Adobe raised its full-year outlook to revenue of $26.576bn-$26.626bn and non-GAAP EPS of $24.45-$24.50. But fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $6.80bn-$6.85bn carried a midpoint that fell short of the $6.85bn analyst consensus.
The guidance landed alongside a leadership change. Adobe’s board disclosed that Anil Chakravarthy will become president and chief executive, with Narayen moving to executive chair, effective 1 December 2026, according to an SEC filing. Narayen had first flagged his intention to step down to the board on 9 March 2026, months before Wednesday’s announcement, according to a separate SEC filing.
Shares slip, then steady
Adobe shares fell 2.14% in after-hours trading to $243.50, extending a 2.32% decline in the regular session, as investors weighed the outlook against concerns over the pace of monetising freemium products, according to Investing.com. The stock later steadied, last trading at $247.77, up 2.66% on the day, though it remains down roughly 30% for the year, according to Yahoo Finance. That report also noted the quarter marked Adobe’s fifth consecutive earnings beat, even as the market reaction turned negative on guidance.
Trading volume ran at 1.8 times the 20-day average, and the stock has traded as low as $237.75 and as high as $293.54 over the preceding 20 sessions. FINRA short-sale volume data show the ratio for Adobe running between 0.529 and 0.728 across the ten trading sessions into the print, showing no unusual build-up of short positioning ahead of results, according to FINRA.
Rates backdrop for growth stocks
The results landed against a backdrop of elevated US borrowing costs that continue to weigh on how investors value software companies with long-dated growth stories. The 10-year US Treasury yield stood at 4.83% on 9 September 2026, up slightly from 4.80% the prior session, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The 2-year yield stood at 4.43%, leaving the 10-year/2-year spread at 0.39 percentage points, little changed from 0.40 a day earlier.
For a stock still down roughly 30% year-to-date despite five straight quarterly beats, the immediate test is whether the December leadership transition and the softer fourth-quarter outlook prove a temporary drag or a lasting reset of how the market prices Adobe’s growth.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Markets move quickly; figures are correct as sourced at the time of writing. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.
