Adobe Q4 2011 Results: Profits Fall 35% - EPS Beats By 7 Cents

December 15, 2011

Adobe Systems  reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 2, 2011.

Adobe made $173 million, or 35 cents a share, on $1.15 billion in sales, compared with earnings of $269 million, or 53 cents a share, on revenue of $1 billion in the same period last year. Excluding certain items, Adobe would have made 67 cents a share. Wall Street was anticipating that Adobe would earn 60 cents a share on $1.09 billion in sales.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

Wall Street previously thought Adobe would earn 58 cents a share on $1.05 billion in sales.

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.