Adobe Reports Record Revenue

Remaining Performance Obligations exiting the quarter were $12.6 billion, up 22 percent year over year

Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today reported financial results for its third quarter fiscal year 2021 ended Sept. 3, 2021.

Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Financial Highlights

• Adobe achieved record revenue of $3.94 billion in its third quarter of fiscal year 2021, which represents 22 percent year-over-year growth.
• GAAP diluted earnings per share was $2.52, representing 28 percent year-over-year growth, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $3.11, representing 21 percent year-over-year growth.
• Digital Media segment revenue was $2.87 billion, which represents 23 percent year-over-year growth. Creative revenue grew to $2.37 billion, representing 21 percent year-over-year growth. Document Cloud revenue was $493 million, representing 31 percent year-over-year growth.
• Digital Media Annualized Recurring Revenue (“ARR”) increased $455 million quarter over quarter to $11.67 billion exiting the quarter. Creative ARR grew to $9.87 billion and Document Cloud ARR grew to $1.79 billion.
• Digital Experience segment revenue was $985 million, representing 26 percent year-over-year growth. Digital Experience subscription revenue was $864 million, representing 29 percent year-over-year growth.
• GAAP operating income in the third quarter was $1.44 billion, and non-GAAP operating income was $1.81 billion. GAAP net income was $1.21 billion, and non-GAAP net income was $1.50 billion.
• Cash flows from operations were $1.42 billion.
• Remaining Performance Obligations (“RPO”) exiting the quarter were $12.63 billion, representing 22 percent year-over-year growth.
• Adobe repurchased approximately 1.7 million shares during the quarter.

A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided at the end of this press release and on Adobe’s website.

Executive Quotes

“Adobe had another outstanding quarter as Creative Cloud, Document Cloud and Experience Cloud continue to transform storytelling, learning and conducting business in a digital-first world,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO, Adobe. “Our talented employees, category-defining innovation and product leadership uniquely position us for continued momentum and success.”

“We drove record revenues and strong profitability in the quarter, demonstrating our ability to succeed in a dynamic environment,” said John Murphy, executive vice president and CFO, Adobe. “Our operational rigor and data-driven insights enable us to execute while we continue to invest across massive market opportunities.”

Adobe Provides Fourth Quarter Financial Targets

Adobe today is providing fourth quarter financial targets factoring current macroeconomic conditions and expected year-end seasonal strength.

The following table summarizes Adobe’s fourth quarter fiscal year 2021 targets:

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

Adobe to Webcast Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call

Adobe will webcast its third quarter fiscal year 2021 earnings conference call today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time from its investor relations website: www.adobe.com/ADBE. Earnings documents, including Adobe management’s prepared conference call remarks with slides and an investor datasheet are posted to Adobe’s investor relations website in advance of the conference call for reference. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP earnings results and financial targets is also provided on the website.

Adobe Announces Fourth Quarter Earnings Call and Financial Analyst Meeting

Adobe will host its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 earnings conference call and financial analyst meeting online on Dec. 16, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time. During the meeting, Adobe will provide an overview of its strategy and financial targets for fiscal year 2022.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those related to business momentum, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operations, market trends, current macroeconomic conditions, customer success, revenue, operating margin, seasonality, annualized recurring revenue, tax rate on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis, earnings per share on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis, and share count, all of 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 compete effectively, failure to develop, acquire, market and offer products and services that meet customer requirements, introduction of new technology, information security and privacy, potential interruptions or delays in hosted services provided by us or third parties, macroeconomic conditions and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, risks associated with cyber-attacks, complex sales cycles, risks related to the timing of revenue recognition from our subscription offerings, fluctuations in subscription renewal rates, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of past or future acquisitions, failure to effectively manage critical strategic third-party business relationships, changes in accounting principles and tax regulations, uncertainty in the financial markets and economic conditions in the countries where we operate, and other various risks associated with being a multinational corporation. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, please refer to Adobe’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year 2020 ended Nov. 27, 2020, and Adobe's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q issued in fiscal year 2021.

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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for our quarter ended Sept. 3, 2021, which Adobe expects to file in late Sept. 2021. Adobe assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update these forward-looking statements.

About Adobe

Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

©2021 Adobe. All rights reserved. Adobe, Creative Cloud, Document Cloud and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe (or one of its subsidiaries) in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

Adobe continues to provide all information required in accordance with GAAP, but believes evaluating its ongoing operating results may not be as useful if an investor is limited to reviewing only GAAP financial measures. Adobe uses non-GAAP financial information to evaluate its ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. Adobe's management does not itself, nor does it suggest that investors should, consider such non-GAAP financial measures in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Adobe presents such non-GAAP financial measures in reporting its financial results to provide investors with an additional tool to evaluate Adobe's operating results. Adobe believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful because they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. This allows institutional investors, the analyst community and others to better understand and evaluate our operating results and future prospects in the same manner as management.

Adobe's management believes it is useful for itself and investors to review, as applicable, both GAAP information as well as non-GAAP measures, which may exclude items such as stock-based and deferred compensation expenses, amortization of intangibles, investment gains and losses, the related tax impact of all of these items, income tax adjustments, and the income tax effect of the non-GAAP pre-tax adjustments from the provision for income taxes. Adobe uses these non-GAAP measures in order to assess the performance of Adobe's business and for planning and forecasting in subsequent periods. Whenever such a non-GAAP measure is used, Adobe provides a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure to the most closely applicable GAAP financial measure. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measure as detailed above.

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