Adobe has given a bullish sales forecast for next year, signalling the software maker’s expanding product suite will continue to attract customers.
Revenue may grow 20% in fiscal 2019, with sales increasing evenly across the central business units, the San Jose, California-based company said on Monday in a statement. That growth rate would push revenue to about US$10.8-billion for the year, topping analysts’ average estimate, based on Adobe’s reported sales and fourth-quarter forecast for 2018.
CEO Shantanu Narayen has sought to expand Adobe by emphasising its main creative software and bolstering a suite of business offerings. While the company goes toe-to-toe with Salesforce.com in marketing and e-commerce technology, the digital media products have traditionally grown at a faster clip — a trend the company expects will end in fiscal 2019.
“Our strategy of empowering people to create and transforming how businesses compete is leading to larger addressable market opportunities and the potential for accelerated revenue and earnings growth,” Narayen said in a statement.
Shares increased about 4% in extended trading after the company released its guidance. The stock closed at $238.01 and has gained 36% this year.
Adobe is hosting its annual creative conference, Max, in Los Angeles this week, where it will showcase its latest apps and concepts. The company issued its forecast before a meeting with analysts and investors at the conference.
The maker of Photoshop said it expects sales for its suite of media-editing creative software to increase about 20% in fiscal 2019. Revenue from the company’s Experience Cloud, which offers marketing, analytics and e-commerce tools, may also gain about 20%, while subscription bookings for the unit are expected to rise 25%.
The company said its total addressable market will increase to $108-billion by 2021, from a projected $83-billion in 2020. — Reported by Nico Grant, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP