Adobe Poised for Solid Third Quarter as ARR Seen Topping Views, RBC Says

04:17 PM EDT, 09/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Adobe (ADBE) is expected to report solid fiscal third-quarter results, with its annual recurring revenue likely to exceed Wall Street's estimates, RBC Capital Markets said Wednesday in a client note. The Photoshop maker is scheduled to release its quarterly financials on Sept. 10, with analysts in a FactSet poll looking for ARR of $27.47 billion. RBC expects Adobe to deliver upside to third-quarter ARR consensus estimates. The brokerage is projecting earnings per share of $6.08 on sales of $6.7 billion. The consensus on FactSet is for EPS of $6.07 on an adjusted basis and revenue of $6.69 billion. Amid near-term ARR headwinds, an update on the company's pricing and go-to-market strategy will be in focus when Adobe releases its results, according to RBC analysts, including Matthew Swanson. "Recent stock performance has been driven in large part by improving (software-as-a-service) sentiment, as we continue to feel a path to ARR re-acceleration remains the key to company-specific multiple expansion," Swanson wrote. Adobe's share price closed 2.2% lower on Wednesday, and are down 20% this year. While year-to-date stock values of SaaS companies are still down, they have stabilized since the start of July, with Adobe up 36%, according to RBC. "We continue to feel that Adobe needs to lean into platform breadth and the differentiation that comes from scale, compliance, governance and interconnectivity to deepen enterprise moats while the (return on investment) proposition of experience cloud is in our view the best path to ARR re-acceleration," Swanson said. The market is also awaiting announcements on new chief executive and chief financial officer, the brokerage said. In March, Adobe announced that Shantanu Narayen would step down as CEO after a successor has been named. CFO Dan Durn resigned in June to take the same role at Marvell Technology (MRVL), with Steve Day, CFO of Adobe's customer experience orchestration unit, stepping in as interim finance chief. RBC reiterated its outperform rating on Adobe's shares and raised the price target to $315 from $285. Some of Adobe's competitors in the broader enterprise software space have announced their quarterly financials, with Microsoft's (MSFT) fiscal fourth-quarter results topping the Street's expectations late in July. Salesforce (CRM) increased its full-year revenue guidance toward the end of August after the customer relationship management platform delivered a fiscal second-quarter beat. Price: 280.69, Change: -5.39, Percent Change: -1.88