Adobe’s 4th-Quarter Earnings Beat Forecasts

Adobe Systems Inc., the top maker of desktop graphics software, said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, including gains, rose 7% and beat expectations as a new version of its Illustrator software helped boost sales. Adobe said profit, including investment gains, was $50.3 million, or 78 cents a share, for the period ended Nov. 30, compared with profit, including investment gains, of $46.8 million, or 64 cents, a year ago. Excluding investment gains, the company earned 76 cents a share in the latest period. Analysts expected the company to earn 64 cents a share, the average estimate according to First Call Corp. “Their product sales are on track for them, and their cost controls are still in place,” said Robert Fagin, an analyst at CIBC Oppenheimer, who rates the stock “hold.” Revenue rose 8.6% to $246.7 million from $227.1 million. The San Jose-based company’s shares fell $2.48 to close at $38.14 on Nasdaq. It released its results after the close of U.S. trading.