Investments spur Adobe
Design software maker Adobe posts improvements all around for the fourth quarter.
The design software maker reported net profits of $67.8 million, or 92 cents a share, for the quarter ending November 29, compared to a net loss of $11.8 million or 16 cents a share for the same period a year ago. Wall Street analysts had expected the company to post a profit of 48 cents a share for the quarter, according to First Call.
But nearly half Adobe's net profits for the quarter came from the sale of its venture investments in such companies as Netscape Communications and Siebel Systems.
Revenues, meanwhile, reached $207.7 million, up from $200.9 million a year ago.
"During the fourth quarter, we began shipping new versions of several of our products including Adobe, Acrobat 3.0, Adobe PageMill 2.0, and Persuasion 4.0. Adobe Photoshop 4.0 also shipped in November and attained record quarterly sales," said John E. Warnock, chairman and chief executive. "We were especially pleased that Photoshop, Acrobat, and Persuasion were released simultaneously on both Windows and Macintosh platforms."
Revenue from application products reached $157.6 million, compared to $153.8 million a year ago. That performance improves on last quarter's, when the company reported a six percent decline in applications revenue.
Meanwhile, licensing revenue for the fourth quarter reached $50.1 million, compared to $47 million for the same period a year earlier. Revenues from licensing receded slightly from the growth seen in the third quarter, which posted a 12 percent increase over the year-ago period.
Adobe reported net income of $153.3 million for fiscal 1996, up from net profits of $93.5 million a year ago. Revenues reached $786.6 million for the year, an increase from $762.3 million the previous year.