MMarketMath

ADBE

Fast growerQuality: High (90/100)1 red flag

Adobe Inc. · Information Technology · Application Software

$276.27

52w 190.12 – 370.86

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$109.8B

P/E

15.4

P/FCF

11.1

FCF yield

9.0%

ROE

61.3%

Shldr yield

10.3%

div 0.0% + bb 10.3%

What today's price assumes

At $109.8B, the market is pricing in -0.3% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 22.6% per year — expectations look undemanding relative to history.

Simple DCF per-share range: $378 · $847 · $1,221 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 24.8× across 19 years, ADBE would trade near $626/share (25th–75th percentile: $408–$789); it trades at 10.9× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

+10.5%

Rev 5y

+13.1%

Rev 10y

+17.4%

EPS 5y

+9.0%

EPS 10y

+29.7%

FCF 5y

+13.2%

FCF 10y

+22.6%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2007–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2007: $3.2B
2008: $3.6B
2009: $2.9B
2010: $3.8B
2011: $4.2B
2012: $4.4B
2013: $4.1B
2014: $4.1B
2015: $4.8B
2016: $5.9B
2017: $7.3B
2018: $9.0B
2019: $11.2B
2020: $12.9B
2021: $15.8B
2022: $17.6B
2023: $19.4B
2024: $21.5B
2025: $23.8B
$0$10.0B$20.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Net income

2007: $723.8M
2008: $871.8M
2009: $386.5M
2010: $774.7M
2011: $832.8M
2012: $832.8M
2013: $290.0M
2014: $268.4M
2015: $629.6M
2016: $1.2B
2017: $1.7B
2018: $2.6B
2019: $3.0B
2020: $5.3B
2021: $4.8B
2022: $4.8B
2023: $5.4B
2024: $5.6B
2025: $7.1B
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Free cash flow

2007: $1.3B
2008: $1.2B
2009: $998.2M
2010: $943.4M
2011: $1.3B
2012: $1.2B
2013: $963.3M
2014: $1.1B
2015: $1.3B
2016: $2.0B
2017: $2.7B
2018: $3.8B
2019: $4.0B
2020: $5.3B
2021: $6.9B
2022: $7.4B
2023: $6.9B
2024: $7.9B
2025: $9.9B
$0$2.5B$5.0B$7.5B
07
11
15
19
23

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2007: 598.8M
2008: 548.6M
2009: 530.6M
2010: 525.8M
2011: 503.9M
2012: 502.7M
2013: 513.5M
2014: 508.5M
2015: 507.2M
2016: 504.3M
2017: 501.1M
2018: 497.8M
2019: 491.6M
2020: 485.5M
2021: 481.0M
2022: 470.9M
2023: 459.1M
2024: 449.7M
2025: 427.0M
0200.0M400.0M600.0M
07
11
15
19
23

Margins

0%25%50%75%07101316192225
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2007: $2.0B
2008: $1.7B
2009: $350.0M
2010: $850.0M
2011: $695.0M
2012: $405.0M
2013: $1.1B
2014: $600.0M
2015: $625.0M
2016: $1.1B
2017: $1.1B
2018: $2.0B
2019: $2.8B
2020: $3.0B
2021: $4.0B
2022: $6.5B
2023: $4.4B
2024: $9.5B
2025: $11.3B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$2.5B$5.0B$7.5B07101316192225
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $4.8B
Q3'23: $4.9B
Q4'23: $5.0B
Q1'24: $5.2B
Q2'24: $5.3B
Q3'24: $5.4B
Q4'24: $5.6B
Q1'25: $5.7B
Q2'25: $5.9B
Q3'25: $6.0B
Q4'25: $6.2B
Q1'26: $6.4B
Q2'26: $6.6B
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $1.3B
Q3'23: $1.4B
Q4'23: $1.5B
Q1'24: $620.0M
Q2'24: $1.6B
Q3'24: $1.7B
Q4'24: $1.7B
Q1'25: $1.8B
Q2'25: $1.7B
Q3'25: $1.8B
Q4'25: $1.9B
Q1'26: $1.9B
Q2'26: $1.7B
$0$500.0M$1.0B$1.5B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$6.6B+12.7%$1.7B+1.2%4.25$2.2B
Q1'26$6.4B+12.0%$1.9B+4.3%4.60$3.0B
Q4'25 *$6.2B+10.5%$1.9B+10.3%4.44$3.2B
Q3'25$6.0B+10.7%$1.8B+5.2%4.18$2.2B
Q2'25$5.9B+10.6%$1.7B+7.5%3.94$2.2B
Q1'25$5.7B+10.3%$1.8B+192.1%4.14$2.5B
Q4'24 *$5.6B+11.1%$1.7B+13.5%3.75$2.9B
Q3'24$5.4B+10.6%$1.7B+20.0%3.76$2.0B
Q2'24$5.3B+10.2%$1.6B+21.5%3.49$1.9B
Q1'24$5.2B+11.3%$620.0M−50.3%1.36$1.2B
Q4'23 *$5.0B+11.6%$1.5B+26.1%3.24$1.6B
Q3'23$4.9B+10.3%$1.4B+23.5%3.05$1.9B
Q2'23$4.8B+9.8%$1.3B+9.9%2.82$2.1B

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+10.5%+13.1%+17.4%+13.0%
Operating cash flow+8.6%+11.9%+21.2%+15.8%
Free cash flow+10.0%+13.2%+22.6%+16.9%
EPS (diluted)+18.2%+9.0%+29.7%+17.6%
Equity−6.1%−2.6%+5.2%+5.5%
LT debt+19.6%+8.6%+12.5%+9.9%
Diluted shares−3.2%−2.5%−1.7%−1.4%
Stock price−21.0%−16.1%+10.4%+17.3%

$100, 3 years ago

$49vs $176 in SPY

-21.0% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$42vs $181 in SPY

-16.1% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$270vs $412 in SPY

10.4% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$1,095vs $813 in SPY

17.3% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$-3.37

−$93.4B created / $27.7B retained

Last 10 years

$2.46

$101.8B created / $41.4B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

56.2%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

9.1%

MC vs 10× OCF

1.09

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

0.6y

SBC / FCF

19.7%

Owner earnings

$7.9B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

7.2%

Share count 5y

−1.9%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

7.9%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$0.03

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Checklist

24 of 27 checks pass · 89%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

7/7

  • Revenue growth

    13.1% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • EPS growth

    9.0% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • FCF growth

    13.2% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Revenue rises consistently

    9 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    pass
  • FCF consistently positive

    10 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    10 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    11.9% vs 13.1% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    pass

Profitability

7/7

  • Net margin

    30.0% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    36.6% · ≥ 10%

    pass
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    89.3% vs 87.7% · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    pass
  • Return on equity

    61.3% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • Cash ROIC

    56.2% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • FCF margin

    41.4% · ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $10.0B vs NI $7.1B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

4/5

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    0.6y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    pass
  • Cash cushion

    87% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    pass
  • Leverage

    0.53 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $11.6B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    fail
  • Interest burden

    3% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    pass

Capital Allocation

2/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    -1.9% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    20% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    fail
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    115% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    fail
  • Repurchases are a habit

    10 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

4/4

  • FCF yield

    9.0% · ≥ 3%

    pass
  • Earnings multiple

    15.4 · P/E ≤ 25

    pass
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    -0.3% vs 22.6% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    pass
  • Shareholder yield

    10.3% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    pass

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Distributions exceed FCF

Dividends plus buybacks exceeded free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202523,76921,2188,7067,13016.7010,0311799,85211,2811,9425,4316,21011,623427
202421,50519,1476,7415,56012.368,0561837,8739,5001,8337,6134,12914,105450
202319,40917,0556,6505,42811.827,3023606,9424,4001,7187,1413,63416,518459
202217,60615,4416,0984,75610.107,8384427,3966,5501,4404,2363,62914,051471
202115,78513,9205,8024,82210.027,2303486,8823,9501,0693,8444,12314,797481
202012,86811,1464,2375,26010.835,7274195,3083,0509094,4784,11713,264486
201911,1719,4983,2682,9516.004,4223954,0272,7507882,65098910,530492
20189,0307,8352,8402,5915.204,0292673,7622,0506101,6434,1259,362498
20177,3026,2912,1681,6943.382,9131782,7351,1004542,3061,8818,459501
20165,8545,0351,4941,1692.322,2002041,9961,0753491,0111,8927,425504
20154,7964,0519036301.241,4701851,2856253368771,9077,002507
20144,1473,5254132680.531,2871481,1396003341,1179116,776508
20134,0553,4694232900.561,1521889631,1003298351,4996,725513
20124,4043,9201,1808331.661,5002711,2294052991,4251,4976,665503
20114,2163,7781,0998331.651,5432101,3336952869901,5055,783504
20103,8003,3969937751.471,1131709438502317501,5145,192526
20092,9462,6496913870.731,1181209983501689991,0004,891531
20083,5803,2171,0288721.591,2811121,1691,7231728863504,410549
20073,1582,8038587241.211,4411321,3091,9521509464,650599

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.