Adobe shares fall after freemium push, CFO exit

Adobe shares fell more than 7% on Friday after the company reported fiscal second-quarter results and announced changes to its commercial strategy alongside an executive departure.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $5.96 per share on revenue of $6.6 billion, above analyst estimates of $5.82 and $6.5 billion. Adobe raised its fiscal 2026 guidance to $24.35–$24.45 in adjusted earnings per share and $26.5 billion–$26.6 billion in revenue, higher than Wall Street forecasts of $23.54 and $26.1 billion.

In the earnings release, CEO Shantanu Narayen wrote, “Adobe delivered record revenue of $6.6 billion in Q2 reflecting strong AI-driven demand across our customer groups.”

Adobe said it will broaden freemium access across products including Firefly, Express and Acrobat and will defer planned Creative Cloud pricing and packaging changes. The company framed the adjustments as a way to accelerate monthly active user growth and expand its AI ecosystem, while warning the approach could weigh on annual recurring revenue growth in the second half of the fiscal year.

Analysts reacted with a mix of views. JPMorgan described the approach as a long-term investment to capture AI-related demand and noted a trade-off between near-term recurring revenue and broader AI adoption. Mizuho kept a Neutral rating and lowered its price target to $245. Baird maintained a Neutral rating with a $230 target. Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In-Line with a $225 target.

Adobe also said Chief Financial Officer Dan Durn will leave the company on June 15 to become CFO of Marvell Technology. The change comes as Adobe proceeds through a broader leadership transition after Narayen previously announced plans to step down after more than 18 years as CEO. Year-to-date performance contrasts between the firms: Marvell shares have risen about 230% while Adobe’s stock has fallen around 37%.

The company highlighted growth in AI products, including CX Enterprise, an AI agent platform for customer experience and sales automation. Management described expanded freemium access as intended to drive acquisition and engagement and to seed usage of Adobe’s AI capabilities, while acknowledging a trade-off between accelerating user growth and near-term monetization.

Market-data indicators showed the stock trading below key moving averages: about 18.7% under its 20-day simple moving average, 18% below its 50-day average, 21.4% under the 100-day average and roughly 32.7% below the 200-day average. Momentum measures such as the MACD remained below signal lines, indicating reduced buying pressure.

Market participants cited the commercial strategy shift and the CFO transition among the factors behind the stock’s decline following the report.