Adobe Posts 11% Revenue Gain in Q3

Key Points

• Adobe reported record revenue of $5.99 billion for Q3 FY2025, up 11% year over year.

• Adjusted EPS grew 14.2% year over year to $5.31.

• Management raised full-year FY2025 guidance for revenue and both earnings measures, citing continued strength in AI-powered products and subscription growth.

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Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) is the software leader best known for its creative and document tools. On Sept. 11, 2025, it released financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025. The key takeaway: revenue set a new record, driven by continued adoption of its AI-infused products. Adobe raised its full-year FY2025 financial targets, reflecting ongoing demand for its subscription services and artificial intelligence (AI) offerings.

Overall, the quarter marked another period of steady growth and margin expansion.

Source: Adobe. Note: Fiscal 2025's third quarter ended Aug. 29, 2025. Fiscal 2024's Q3 ended Aug. 30, 2024.

Adobe’s Business and Success Drivers

Adobe is best known for its software tools that serve creative professionals, marketers, and businesses of all sizes. Its core products include Creative Cloud, a suite of applications for design, photo, and video editing; Acrobat, a PDF and document management platform; and Adobe Experience Cloud, a collection of tools for managing customer experiences and digital marketing.

The company earns most of its revenue through subscriptions instead of single software sales, providing customers with ongoing access and regular product updates. Key focuses for the business include integrating artificial intelligence into its products, expanding cloud-based services, and maintaining predictable subscription revenue. Success hinges on broad adoption of its AI features, continued leadership in creative software, and ongoing customer engagement.

Quarter in Review: Highlights and Developments

During Q3 FY2025, Adobe's total revenue rose 11% from the prior year to reach $5.99 billion. This marked another all-time high for the company. The Digital Media segment, which includes Creative Cloud and Acrobat, delivered $4.46 billion in revenue, up 12% year over year. Digital Media annual recurring revenue (ARR) finished at $18.59 billion, increasing 11.7%. The Digital Experience segment, focused on customer experience management solutions, posted $1.48 billion in revenue, up 9.0%.

Subscription sales continue to drive performance, accounting for more than 96.7% of total revenue. Outpacing product and services revenue, which both declined, this shift highlights the growing importance of recurring business for Adobe. The Business Professionals and Consumers subscription revenue grew 15% year over year, supported by AI-powered features in Acrobat and Express.

Artificial intelligence contributed materially to Adobe's growth in FY2025. The company reported that more than $5 billion of ARR is now "AI-influenced," referring to subscriptions or renewals where AI features such as Firefly (a generative AI content creation tool), Creative Cloud AI tools, and Acrobat AI played a key role in customer decisions. Direct AI product ARR, for offerings built specifically around AI, is tracking ahead of the $250 million ending ARR target for fiscal 2025. However, direct AI revenue still accounts for less than 2% of company-wide ARR, so most AI growth so far is driven by existing customers adding AI features to their subscriptions.

Adjusted EPS rose 14.2% year over year, supported by strong subscription sales and reduced share count from share buybacks. The company repurchased 8 million shares during the quarter. Although cash and investments declined as Adobe used funds for buybacks, long-term debt rose as Adobe shifted its capital structure. There was no one-time event or material legal charge disclosed for this quarter.

Looking Ahead: Guidance and What to Watch

Adobe management raised its financial outlook for the full fiscal year 2025. Guidance now calls for total revenue of $23.65 billion–$23.70 billion and adjusted EPS of $20.80–$20.85, compared to previous outlooks of $23.5 billion–$23.6 billion in total revenue and $20.50–$20.70 adjusted earnings per share. For Q4 FY2025, revenue is projected at $6.075 billion–$6.125 billion and adjusted EPS of $5.35–$5.40. The company also reaffirmed double-digit ARR growth targets.

In the coming quarters, investors should keep an eye on several key areas: the pace of AI-related revenue growth, particularly as a share of total ARR; the balance between Digital Media and Digital Experience segment growth rates; and the impact of share buybacks on per-share earnings. Balances of cash and long-term debt also bear watching as Adobe continues its capital return program. Adobe does not currently pay a dividend.

Revenue and net income presented using U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) unless otherwise noted.

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Motley Fool Markets Team is a Foolish AI, based on a variety of Large Language Models (LLMs) and proprietary Motley Fool systems. The Motley Fool takes ultimate responsibility for the content of these articles. Motley Fool Markets Team cannot own stocks and so it has no positions in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Adobe. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.