Adobe (ADBE) Stock After the Bell on December 11, 2025: Earnings Beat, AI Momentum and What to Watch Before the December 12 Open

Updated: evening of Thursday, December 11, 2025 (U.S. time)

Adobe stock recap: how ADBE traded on December 11

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) heads into Friday’s session with the market still digesting a big earnings week, a fresh AI partnership with ChatGPT, and a flurry of new analyst calls.

On Thursday, December 11, Adobe shares closed at $350.43, up about 2.1% on the day, after trading between $333.79 and $357.00. Volume spiked to around 9.85 million shares, more than double the recent average of 4.38 million. The stock was essentially flat in early after‑hours trading near $350.44. ^[1]

That strong close came one day after Adobe reported record Q4 and full‑year fiscal 2025 results for the year ended November 28, 2025, and after a choppy initial reaction that saw the stock briefly trade lower despite beating expectations. ^[2]

For context:

• Wednesday’s (Dec. 10) close: $343.13
• Thursday’s (Dec. 11) close: $350.43
• 52‑week range: $311.58 – $552.83 ^[3]

In other words, Adobe has bounced from its recent lows but remains far below its 52‑week high, even after the post‑earnings pop.

What Adobe reported: Q4 2025 and FY 2025 in focus

Adobe’s fiscal fourth quarter and full‑year 2025 numbers are the backdrop for everything the stock is doing now.

Headline Q4 2025 results

Multiple sources, including Adobe’s own filings and earnings call transcript, line up on the key figures: ^[4]

• Q4 revenue:$6.19 billion, up 10% year over year, vs. consensus around $6.11 billion.
• Q4 non‑GAAP EPS:$5.50, up 14% year over year, vs. expectations near $5.40.
• Total ending ARR (annualized recurring revenue):$25.2 billion, up 11.5% year over year.
• Digital Media revenue: about $4.62 billion in Q4 (part of $17.65 billion for the full year, +11% YoY).
• Digital Experience revenue: about $1.50+ billion in Q4 (segment $5.86 billion for FY 2025, +9% YoY).

Full‑year fiscal 2025

From Adobe’s Q4/FY25 release and prepared remarks: ^[5]

• FY 2025 revenue:$23.77 billion, up 11% year over year (as reported and in constant currency).
• GAAP EPS:$16.70; non‑GAAP EPS:$20.94.
• GAAP operating income:$8.71 billion; non‑GAAP operating income:$10.99 billion.
• GAAP net income:$7.13 billion; non‑GAAP net income:$8.94 billion.
• Operating cash flow:$10.03 billion for the year.
• Total ARR:$25.20 billion, +11.5% YoY.
• Digital Media ARR:$19.20 billion, +11.5% YoY.
• Digital Experience subscription revenue:$5.41 billion, up 11% YoY.
• Adobe also repurchased roughly 30.8 million shares over the fiscal year.

In short: growth is in the low double digits, highly recurring, and still very profitable.

AI at the center: Firefly, freemium growth and the new ChatGPT integration

Adobe’s narrative around this print is not just about “another earnings beat,” it’s about AI monetization and distribution.

Firefly and freemium metrics

Coverage of the earnings and post‑call analysis highlight a sharp pickup in usage of Adobe’s AI‑powered and freemium tools: ^[6]

• Monthly active users of freemium offerings like Firefly, Adobe Express, and Premiere Mobile surpassed 70 million, up roughly 35% year over year.
• First‑time Firefly subscriptions doubled quarter over quarter.
• Generative AI credit consumption across Creative Cloud, Firefly and Express tripled sequentially.

Management leaned hard into AI on the call. CEO Shantanu Narayen and Digital Media president David Wadhwani emphasized that Adobe is leveraging AI to accelerate innovation across both creative and document workflows, and described Firefly as a central hub for accessing “industry‑leading” generative models inside flagship apps like Photoshop and Illustrator. ^[7]

Big new catalyst: Photoshop, Express and Acrobat inside ChatGPT

On December 10, just hours before investors pored over the numbers, Adobe announced it is bringing Photoshop, Adobe Express and Acrobat directly into ChatGPT. ^[8]

Key points:

• The integration makes Adobe’s creative and document apps available to ChatGPT’s ~800 million users, via simple natural‑language prompts. ^[9]
• Users can:
  • Ask Photoshop to blur backgrounds, adjust colors, or apply effects.
  • Use Express to design social posts, flyers, and invitations.
  • Use Acrobat to edit, compress, merge or convert PDFs — all inside ChatGPT’s interface. ^[10]
• Adobe frames this as part of its “agentic AI” strategy: letting people get professional‑quality design and document work done simply by describing what they want. ^[11]

Third‑party coverage from Reuters, The Verge and The Wall Street Journal notes that the move helps Adobe tap into ChatGPT’s massive user base and respond to competition from Canva and Figma, both of which have also integrated with ChatGPT‑style interfaces. ^[12]

Put together, the earnings and product news paint a picture of a company:

• Growing revenue and ARR in the low double digits,
• Pushing hard on AI features across its portfolio, and
• Dramatically expanding the top of the funnel via free, conversational interfaces like ChatGPT.

How the market reacted: from knee‑jerk dip to post‑earnings rebound

The reaction to Adobe’s results has unfolded in stages.

Immediate reaction (after the Dec. 10 release)

Adobe released Q4/FY25 results after the close on Wednesday, December 10. According to Investing.com’s earnings recap and Benzinga’s pre‑market round‑up: ^[13]

• The stock closed down about 0.35% at $344.32 on Dec. 10.
• It then slipped further in the immediate after‑hours session, trading around $342–$340.40, even though revenue and EPS both beat expectations.

This “sell the news” move was widely interpreted as a combination of high pre‑earnings expectations, options positioning, and profit‑taking, rather than a verdict that the results were bad.

Thursday, December 11: buyers step back in

By Thursday’s regular session, sentiment had clearly improved:

• Adobe opened at $341.65, briefly dipped toward the low $330s, rallied up to $357, and settled around $350.43, up 2.13% on the day. ^[14]
• Intraday volume of nearly 9.9 million shares was more than 2x the average, suggesting active institutional repositioning rather than sleepy trading. ^[15]

Barron’s described the results as showing “rapid adoption” of Adobe’s AI tools, noting that adjusted EPS of $5.50 and revenue of $6.19 billion both came in ahead of Wall Street forecasts, with the stock trading higher on Thursday as investors reassessed the AI story. ^[16]

By the closing bell on Dec. 11, Adobe looked less like an “earnings loser” and more like a name the market was willing to give another chance.

Fresh analyst calls and valuation after the Q4 print

Price targets trimmed but still pointing up

Several large Wall Street firms updated their models on December 11:

• Wolfe Research:
  • Rating: Outperform (unchanged)
  • Price target cut from $450 to $440
  • Commented that fiscal Q4 was “strong,” with broad‑based momentum, and that the FY 2026 outlook suggests improving fundamentals. ^[17]
• Morgan Stanley:
  • Rating: Equal‑Weight
  • Price target reduced from $450 to $425. ^[18]
• TD Cowen:
  • Rating: Hold
  • Price target cut from $420 to $400. ^[19]

Benzinga’s Adobe dashboard shows a consensus price target around $443.83 and an average rating of “Buy” (3.8 out of 5) as of Thursday afternoon. ^[20]

Given Adobe’s roughly $350 closing price, the stock is trading about 25–30% below the current Street target range.

Longer-term valuation views

Other research recap:

• Morningstar (via preview snippets) maintained its fair value estimate near $560 per share, calling Adobe a “wide‑moat” business and saying shares remain attractively valued after the earnings release. ^[21]
• A Seeking Alpha article titled “Adobe: The Most Overlooked AI Turnaround In The Market” upgraded the stock to Buy, arguing that perceived AI threats are abating, the outlook is improving, and new partnerships are supporting revenue growth. ^[22]

On the flip side, more cautious voices remain:

• A StockInvest.us technical note (updated Dec. 10) labels ADBE a “hold/accumulate” candidate, cites a short‑term downtrend channel, and models a possible 3‑month pullback of around 9% if momentum fades, even while acknowledging bullish moving‑average and MACD signals. ^[23]
• A widely shared Stocktwits explainer stresses competitive pressure from Figma and Canva, points to revenue growth stuck around 10% and notes that Adobe shares are still down over 22% in 2025 despite record revenue. ^[24]

That said, the same Stocktwits piece points out that, according to Koyfin data, 25 of 40 analysts rate Adobe “Buy” or “Strong Buy”, 12 say “Hold,” and only 3 rate it “Sell,” with an average price target around $444, implying roughly 30% upside from recent levels. ^[25]

Competitive pressures: Figma, Canva and the “creative crown” debate

One theme that comes up again and again in December 11 coverage: Adobe’s moat in creative software is under scrutiny.

The Stocktwits report titled “Adobe Was Once Untouchable — Now AI Upstarts, Stalled Growth And A Figma‑Sized Shadow Are Testing Its Creative Empire” argues that: ^[26]

• Adobe still commands an estimated 58% share of the creative software market, but
• Figma is viewed as the “industry standard” in product design, with fast adoption across UX, product, and dev teams, and
• Canva is pushing aggressively with a free Affinity suite and easy‑to‑use graphics tools.

Morgan Stanley’s earlier downgrade to Equal‑Weight was framed around worries that generative AI monetization has lagged expectations, that some existing subscribers are not yet convinced AI is a net benefit, and that sentiment catalysts may take time to materialize. ^[27]

This competitive backdrop is crucial for interpreting Friday’s open: even with strong AI features and ChatGPT integration, investors are still debating how much pricing power Adobe retains in a world where design and content creation tools are getting:

• Cheaper,
• More collaborative, and
• More AI‑assisted from multiple vendors.

Key levels and metrics to watch before the December 12 open

Here’s what traders and investors will likely focus on when U.S. markets open on Friday, December 12, 2025.

1. Price action and technical levels

From Thursday’s tape and third‑party technical models: ^[28]

• Thursday close: ~$350.43
• Near‑term support zone:
  • The $340–$342 area, where Adobe traded after earnings in the initial reaction.
  • A volume support band around $337–$338, highlighted by StockInvest.us.
• Intraday low on Dec. 11:$333.79 — a deeper support to watch if markets turn risk‑off.
• Resistance zone:
  • Thursday’s intraday high near $357.
  • Additional resistance area in the mid‑$340s to low‑$350s flagged by CoinCentral’s technical commentary.

StockInvest’s model (based on Dec. 10 close) noted that Adobe sits in the upper part of a falling short‑term trend channel and suggested the stock is best treated as a “hold/accumulate” in the near term, with an eye on support near $337.86 and a stop‑loss around $333 for active traders. ^[29]

2. Valuation vs. Street targets

Based on current data: ^[30]

• Price: about $350
• Consensus price target:low–mid $440s
• Morningstar fair value:$560
• Forward P/E: low‑20s (around 21–22x)
• Short interest: roughly 2.9% of float

For Friday, the key question is whether traders continue to re‑rate the stock upward toward that target range, or whether macro jitters and AI‑spending worries keep it pinned in the mid‑$300s.

3. Broader market tone and AI sentiment

The macro backdrop is not neutral:

• U.S. futures were under pressure on Thursday as Oracle’s earnings stoked fresh concerns about corporate AI spending and capex discipline, hurting sentiment in tech and AI‑linked names. ^[31]
• The day after a Fed rate cut, major indices wobbled as investors reassessed how fast easing might actually translate into real‑economy growth. ^[32]

Oracle’s sharp post‑earnings drop (around double‑digit percentage declines) is a reminder that AI narratives can swing violently when spending patterns or guidance disappoint — something traders will keep in mind when positioning around Adobe.

What short‑term traders and longer‑term investors may focus on

This article is informational, not investment advice, but here’s how today’s information set typically maps to different time frames.

For short‑term traders (intra‑day to a few days)

Things to watch into the Dec. 12 open:

• Whether $340–$342 holds if futures are weak. A break below that area with volume could open the door to a retest of $334 and the high‑$320s.
• Follow‑through above Thursday’s high (~$357). A strong move through the mid‑$350s, ideally on volume that stays well above average, would signal that dip‑buyers are still in control.
• Options flows and volatility: pre‑earnings options were pricing a mid‑single‑digit move; how implied volatility resets after the report can influence hedging‑driven flows on Friday. (Options data isn’t detailed in the public articles, but the muted immediate reaction suggests expectations were high.) ^[33]

For medium‑ and long‑term investors

Key themes from the December 11 news and analysis cycle:

1. Execution is solid:
   • Double‑digit growth in revenue and ARR, with non‑GAAP EPS growing faster than sales. ^[34]
2. AI is real, but still being priced in:
   • Usage metrics (70M+ freemium MAUs, tripling of generative credits) look strong, but some investors remain skeptical about the magnitude and timing of AI monetization. ^[35]
3. Competition is the wild card:
   • Figma and Canva are no longer side notes; they’re central to the debate about Adobe’s long‑term moat in design, collaboration and pricing power. ^[36]
4. Valuation vs. growth:
   • With the stock still down more than 20% this year and trading well below both Street and Morningstar targets, the risk/reward now hinges on whether Adobe can sustain double‑digit ARR growth while defending its creative franchise. ^[37]

Bottom line before Friday’s open

Heading into the December 12, 2025 session, Adobe sits at an interesting junction:

• Fundamentals: record revenue, robust ARR, strong cash generation, and solid guidance for FY 2026 — including revenue of $25.9–$26.1 billion and non‑GAAP EPS of $23.30–$23.50, slightly ahead of consensus. ^[38]
• Story: a rapidly expanding AI footprint, now plugged directly into ChatGPT, with management explicitly targeting double‑digit ARR growth next year. ^[39]
• Market positioning: a stock that has underperformed year‑to‑date, faces real competitive and sentiment questions, but still enjoys broad analyst support and meaningful implied upside from current targets. ^[40]

Whether ADBE extends Thursday’s rebound or stalls near resistance on Friday will likely depend on:

• How aggressively traders want to rotate back into “AI software” after the Oracle scare,
• Whether broader indices stabilize after the post‑Fed wobble, and
• How quickly investors decide that Adobe’s ChatGPT tie‑up and AI metrics translate into sustained, higher‑quality growth, not just a good story.

As always, anyone considering trading or investing in Adobe should weigh this against their risk tolerance, time horizon and portfolio diversification, and consider seeking professional financial advice where appropriate.

References

1. www.benzinga.com, 2. www.adobe.com, 3. www.benzinga.com, 4. www.adobe.com, 5. www.adobe.com, 6. coincentral.com, 7. www.investing.com, 8. news.adobe.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.theverge.com, 11. news.adobe.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. www.benzinga.com, 15. www.benzinga.com, 16. www.barrons.com, 17. www.tipranks.com, 18. www.benzinga.com, 19. www.benzinga.com, 20. www.benzinga.com, 21. www.morningstar.com, 22. seekingalpha.com, 23. stockinvest.us, 24. stocktwits.com, 25. stocktwits.com, 26. stocktwits.com, 27. stocktwits.com, 28. www.benzinga.com, 29. stockinvest.us, 30. www.benzinga.com, 31. finance.yahoo.com, 32. www.benzinga.com, 33. coincentral.com, 34. www.adobe.com, 35. coincentral.com, 36. stocktwits.com, 37. stocktwits.com, 38. www.investing.com, 39. coincentral.com, 40. stocktwits.com