Adobe beats earnings expectations as AI tools drive double-digit revenue growth
Adobe closed fiscal Q4 2025 with real momentum. Earnings and revenue topped estimates, and guidance came in ahead of the Street. The engine: AI-infused products and a subscription base that keeps compounding.
Q4 FY2025: the key numbers
- Revenue: $6.19B, up 10% year over year (vs. $6.11B expected)
- Adjusted EPS: $5.50 (vs. $5.40 expected; up from $4.81 a year ago)
- Digital Media: $4.62B, up 11%
- Digital Experience: $1.52B, up 9%
- Subscription revenue: $5.96B, up 12%
- Cash flow from operations: $3.16B (record)
- Remaining performance obligations (RPO): $22.52B
Subscription engine: still accelerating
Subscription revenue rose 12% to $5.96B. Business professional and consumer subscriptions were $1.72B, up 15%. Creative and marketing professional subscriptions reached $4.25B, up 11%.
That mix matters. Stronger, stickier subscriptions translate into healthier cash flow and better visibility-exactly what finance teams and investors want to see.
AI product momentum that shows up in the numbers
- September updates shipped across the suite, including new Firefly Boards features and Photoshop gaining access to Google's Nano Banana image generation model.
- October brought Adobe's first AI agents, aimed at B2B marketers.
- Adobe AI Foundry launched to let businesses create custom generative models, and AI agents were added to the GenStudio Platform.
For IT leaders and developers, this is a signal: Adobe is building not just creative tools, but an AI platform stack that plugs into enterprise workflows.
Full-year results and CEO commentary
For FY2025, Adobe posted adjusted EPS of $20.94 (up from $18.42) on revenue of $23.77B, up 11% year over year. The company credits its AI-driven tools and broader customer adoption.
"Adobe's record FY2025 results reflect our growing importance in the global AI ecosystem and the rapid adoption of our AI-driven tools," said Chair and CEO Shantanu Narayen. The company is targeting double-digit ARR growth in FY2026.
FY2026 outlook: above the Street
- Q1 FY2026 guidance: Adjusted EPS $5.85-$5.90; revenue $6.25B-$6.30B (consensus was ~$6.23B)
- Full-year FY2026 guidance: Adjusted EPS $23.30-$23.50; revenue $25.9B-$26.1B (consensus was ~$25.89B)
Why this matters (quick take)
- Investors/Finance: Beat-and-raise quarter, record operating cash flow, and $22.52B in RPO support durable growth. Watch ARR and margin expansion as AI features scale.
- IT leaders: AI Foundry and agentic capabilities suggest deeper enterprise integration-governance, security, and model customization will be key evaluation points.
- Developers: Expect more APIs and agent frameworks around GenStudio and creative pipelines. The Photoshop + Google model tie-in hints at broader multi-model support.
- Marketers: Early AI agents target B2B use cases. Test small, measure lift, then standardize across campaigns once ROI is clear.
What to watch next
- ARR growth pace in FY2026 and any new AI tiers or packaging changes
- Enterprise adoption of AI Foundry and agentic workflows across marketing and content ops
- Impact of multi-model support (e.g., Google's image generation) on creative productivity and output quality
- Conversion of RPO into revenue and consistency of cash flow
For primary materials and updates, see Adobe's investor relations page: investor.adobe.com.
If you're building AI skills to keep pace with these shifts, explore curated programs by role: AI courses by job.
Your membership also unlocks:
