Is AI threatening the livelihood of the global leader in multimedia creation software? If so, the impact is not yet visible in its revenue, which rose 12% from the same period last year.

H1 operating profit increased 9%. However, a higher tax bill than in 2025 meant that net income increased by only 3%. Nevertheless, EPS rose 9%, driven by an impressive reduction in the number of shares outstanding, which fell from 433 million to 407 milllion on a diluted basis over the past twelve months. 

Adobe has quintupled its revenue and sextupled its operating profit over the past decade. Simultaneously, its share count has decreased by a fifth over the cycle, with a marked acceleration recently as share buybacks became significantly more accretive following the stock price's fall.

The group, backed by a strong balance sheet and no net debt, is now trading at or very near a single-digit multiple of its earnings. This is for a business that maintains stratospheric returns on equity, achieved without the use of leverage, which boasts an impressive track record of growth.

Indeed, there are numerous red flags that might dampen the enthusiasm of contrarian investors sensing an easy win: starting with the abrupt departures of the CEO and CFO, as well as the total absence of open-market share purchases by the management team.

Furthermore, Adobe's extremely aggressive commercial policy continues to fuel intense hostility among a segment of its customer base. Once a captive audience, these users now have access to a multitude of AI-assisted solutions that are cheaper and often more intuitive.