New York, January 15, 2026, 19:50 ET — After-hours
- Adobe shares slipped roughly 0.1% in after-hours, hovering around $304.
- Oppenheimer cut its rating again, citing AI-fueled pricing pressure after Apple launched a more affordable creator bundle.
- Investors are eyeing Adobe’s upcoming filings and its March earnings call to pinpoint clearer signals of AI’s return on investment.
Adobe shares slipped slightly in after-hours trading Thursday, weighed down by a recent analyst downgrade and renewed competition from Apple targeting creators. The Photoshop maker’s stock last traded down 0.1% at $304.09, bouncing between $301.40 and $305.80 throughout the day.
Investors are zeroing in on what generative artificial intelligence means for businesses relying on recurring subscriptions. For Adobe, the concern is clear: if AI drives down costs and simplifies switching between design and content tools, maintaining pricing power becomes a tougher challenge.
This week, Oppenheimer sharply downgraded Adobe from “Outperform” to “Perform,” even pulling its price target. The firm flagged a tougher landscape ahead as customers experiment with new tools. It warned that generative AI “is increasing the velocity of content creation while lowering price and subscriber growth.” There’s also growing concern that software companies might shift away from fixed “seats” — per-user licenses — toward usage-based pricing models, where customers pay based on consumption. (Investopedia)
Competition is heating up. Apple revealed its Apple Creator Studio this week, a $12.99 monthly bundle that includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro, plus fresh AI-powered features across select apps. The service is set to launch on Jan. 28. (Reuters)
Adobe is doubling down on AI to fend off competitive threats, promoting its Firefly tools as a way to lock users into its platform instead of losing them to rivals. “We’re seeing significant strength in Creative Cloud Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom,” CFO Dan Durn told Reuters last December, as the company projected fiscal 2026 revenue above Wall Street’s estimates and highlighted growing uptake of AI features. (Reuters)
The stock’s next move will depend less on demos and more on dollars. Traders are watching to see if AI features boost retention and spending enough to counter cheaper options aimed at students, freelancers, and small teams.
But the risk is clear: if fresh bundles and AI-first tools lure casual users away, driving prices down to cheaper, consumption-based models, growth could stall even with the core franchise holding steady. This kind of change often takes a while to appear in reported results — yet valuations can get hit long before then.
Investors are keeping an eye on Adobe’s annual report for the fiscal year ending Nov. 28, 2025, which the company has said it plans to file in January. (SEC)
Adobe’s first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call is set for March 12. Executives are expected to answer tough questions on AI monetization, competitive churn, and if demand can stay strong amid rivals rolling out cheaper creator tools. (Adobe)
