Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen appearas at a Diwali celebration within the White Home in Washington on Oct. 21, 2025.
Allison Robbert | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Adobe mentioned CEO Shantanu Narayen will step down as CEO after a successor has been named, and stay as chair of the design software program firm’s board. Shares had been down 6% in prolonged buying and selling.
Narayen joined Adobe in 1988 as a vp and normal supervisor, and he grew to become CEO in 2007. Below Narayen, Adobe pushed from software program licenses to subscriptions to its Artistic Cloud utility bundle, and the corporate is now working to develop by generative synthetic intelligence. He sought to amass fast-growing design software program firm Figma, however regulators pushed again, and the businesses known as off the deal, leading to Adobe paying Figma a $1 billion breakup price.
“On behalf of the Board, I wish to acknowledge Shantanu’s contributions as CEO and architect of Adobe’s transformation over the previous 18 years, and for positioning Adobe for fulfillment within the AI-driven period,” Frank Calderoni, Adobe’s lead impartial director, was quoted as saying in a assertion. “As we take the following step in succession planning, we’re centered on deciding on the fitting chief for this subsequent thrilling chapter of the corporate’s development and are grateful for Shantanu’s continued management as CEO to make sure a clean transition.”
Narayen is lead impartial director of Pfizer along with his obligations at Adobe.
The corporate additionally reported sturdy outcomes and quarterly steering.
This is how the corporate did compared with LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: $6.06 adjusted vs. $5.87 anticipated
- Income: $6.40 billion vs. $6.28 billion anticipated
Adobe’s income grew about 12% 12 months over 12 months within the quarter, which ended on Feb. 27, in response to a assertion.
With respect to steering, Adobe known as for five.80 to $5.85 in fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings per share on $6.43 billion to $6.48 billion billion in income. Analysts polled by LSEG had been in search of $5.68 per share and $6.42 billion in income.
Traders have been punishing software program shares due to considerations about disruption from generative AI fashions. Adobe shares had been down practically 23% to date in 2026 as of Thursday’s shut, whereas the S&P 500 index was down about 3% in the identical interval.
Income from subscriptions for inventive and advertising and marketing professionals totaled $4.39 billion, up 12% and above the $4.31 billion consensus amongst analysts polled by StreetAccount.
Throughout the quarter, Adobe introduced the provision of Acrobat, Specific and Photoshop apps for OpenAI’s ChatGPT assistant, together with an expanded partnership with promoting firm WPP.
Executives will focus on the outcomes on a convention name beginning at 5 p.m. ET.
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