Marketing Cloud

Adobe Reports Record Quarterly and Annual Revenue

Strong Execution Against Digital Media and Digital Marketing Opportunities Drives Q4 and FY2011 Upside

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dec. 15, 2011 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 2, 2011.

Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Revenue was $1.152 billion, which exceeded the company’s target range of $1.075 billion to $1.125 billion, and represents 14 percent year-over-year revenue growth.
  • Diluted earnings per share were $0.35 on a GAAP-basis, and $0.67 on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Operating income was $246.1 million, operating margin was 21.4 percent and net income was $173.7 million on a GAAP-basis.  Operating income was $444.5 million, operating margin was 38.6 percent and net income was $332.6 million on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Deferred revenue grew by $47.6 million to $531.7 million.
  • Cash flow from operations was $496.8 million.

A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided at the end of this press release.


Fiscal Year 2011 Financial Highlights

  • Adobe achieved revenue of $4.216 billion, compared to $3.800 billion in fiscal 2010.  This represents 11 percent year-over-year growth, and exceeded the company’s target of ten percent growth provided at the outset of the year.
  • GAAP diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2011 were $1.65, compared to $1.47 in fiscal 2010.  Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2011 were $2.35, compared to $1.93 in fiscal 2010.
  • Operating income was $1.099 billion, operating margin was 26.1 and net income was $832.8 million on a GAAP-basis.  Operating income was $1.587 billion, operating margin was 37.6 percent and net income was $1.183 billion on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Adobe generated $1.5 billion in cash flow during the year.
  • The company repurchased 21.8 million shares during the year, returning approximately $695 million to stockholders.

A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided at the end of this press release.

Executive Quotes

“Adobe’s record results in Q4 and fiscal 2011 were driven by strong performance in our digital media and digital marketing businesses,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe. “We intend to be the market leader in these two large categories, which will drive strong revenue and earnings growth.”

“Our outstanding Q4 finish enabled Adobe to beat the annual revenue growth target we provided at the outset of the year,” said Mark Garrett, executive vice president and CFO of Adobe.  “We also drove $1.5 billion in cash flow during the year, and grew annual non-GAAP earnings per share by 22 percent.”

Financial Outlook

For the first quarter of fiscal 2012, Adobe is targeting revenue of $1.025 billion to $1.075 billion.  On a diluted earnings per share basis, the company is targeting a range of $0.37 to $0.43 on a GAAP basis, and $0.54 to $0.59 on a non-GAAP basis.

Adobe is targeting its share count to be between 500 million and 502 million shares, and it is targeting non-operating expense between $19 million and $22 million.  Adobe’s tax rate is expected to be approximately 23 percent on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis.

For fiscal year 2012, Adobe continues to target annual revenue growth of four to six percent.  On a diluted earnings per share basis, the company is targeting a range of $1.70 to $1.83 on a GAAP basis, and $2.37 to $2.47 on a non-GAAP basis.

These targets do not include the impact of Adobe’s expected acquisition of Efficient Frontier, which the company expects to close later in Q1 fiscal 2012.  A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial targets is provided at the end of this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those related to revenue, non-operating expense, tax rate, share count, earnings per share and our ability to align our business to successfully respond to changes in our industry, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: failure to develop, market and distribute new products and services or upgrades or enhancements to existing products and services that meet customer requirements, introduction of new products, services and business models by existing and new competitors, failure to successfully manage transitions to new business models and markets, continued uncertainty in economic conditions and the financial markets and other adverse changes in general political or economic conditions in any of the major countries in which Adobe does business, difficulty in predicting revenue from new businesses, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of past or future acquisitions, and difficulty in integrating such acquisitions, costs related to intellectual property acquisitions, disputes and litigation, inability to protect Adobe’s intellectual property from third-party infringers, or unauthorized copying, use or disclosure, security vulnerabilities in our products and systems, interruptions or delays in our service or service from third-party service providers that host or deliver services, security or privacy breaches, or failure in data collection, failure to manage Adobe’s sales and distribution channels and third-party customer service and technical support providers effectively, disruption of Adobe’s business due to catastrophic events, risks associated with global operations, currency fluctuations, risks associated with our debt service obligations, changes in, or interpretations of, accounting principles, impairment of Adobe’s goodwill or amortizable intangible assets, changes in, or interpretations of, tax rules and regulations, Adobe’s inability to attract and retain key personnel, and impairment of Adobe’s investment portfolio due to deterioration of the capital markets. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Adobe’s SEC filings.

The financial information set forth in this press release reflects estimates based on information available at this time.  These amounts could differ from actual reported amounts stated in Adobe’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended Dec. 2, 2011, which Adobe expects to file in Jan. 2012. Adobe does not undertake an obligation to update forward-looking statements.