Adobe Inc's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Adobe Inc (ADBE) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Adobe Inc vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 25,970M vs 73,266M combined for tracked competitors (26.2% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+4.1% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs accelerating (+5.6%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: Adobe Inc generated 12.9% revenue growth year over year in Q3 2026, vs 24.0% for its tracked competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its 27.0% net margin compares with 24.6% for the peer group.
- Scale: Adobe Inc ranks #13 of 260 companies by market capitalization in the Software & Programming industry, holding 1.2% of industry market cap.
- Peer revenue share: Adobe Inc accounted for 25.9% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, down from 27.7% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $0.83M compares with $0.76M for the peer group (1.1x).
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
ADBE Sales vs. its Competitors, Q3 2026
Adobe Inc reported revenue growth of 12.89 % year on year in Q3 2026, below its competitors' combined revenue growth of 24.04 %.
With a net margin of 27.03 %, Adobe Inc achieved higher profitability than its competitors (24.61 %).
Adobe Inc generated 25.90 % of the combined sales of its peer group, down from 27.74 % a year earlier.
Adobe Inc vs. its Competitors, Q3 2026
Revenue growth, year on year
Net income growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in an SEC filing; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across Adobe Inc and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across Adobe Inc's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Software & Programming industry grew revenue 16.0% year over year, combined, vs 12.9% for Adobe Inc. Adobe Inc's share of combined industry revenue moved from 2.16% to 2.10%, a loss of 0.06 percentage points.
Adobe Inc's Competitor Quality Breadth
Share of each group, trailing 12 months: profitable (net margin > 0), expanding (revenue growth > 0), growing faster than the industry's own median, and financially distressed (Piotroski F-Score of 2 or below).
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Competitors combined (59) | ||||
| High-Confidence Competitors (31) | ||||
| Similar-Size Competitors (10) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 62.50 % (5 of 8) | 28.60 % (2 of 7) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
ADBE Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
ADBE Stock Performance relative to High-Confidence Competitors
ADBE Stock Performance relative to Similar-Size Competitors
ADBE Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Digital Turbine Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | Akamai Technologies Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 3 | On24 Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 4 | Aspen Technology inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 5 | Viant Technology Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Adobe Inc's best-performing tracked competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Adobe Inc's Comment on Competition and Industry Peers
Publicly Traded Peers of Adobe Inc
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | 91,364.46 | 25,970.00 |
| Apple Inc | 4,979,446.36 | 466,823.00 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 3,795,216.66 | 331,839.00 |
| Amazon com Inc | 2,683,773.45 | 776,231.00 |
| Oracle Corporation | 397,830.00 | 73,266.00 |
| Sap Se | 246,009.75 | 41,216.00 |
| SUBTOTAL | 13,373,494.53 | 2,262,747.93 |
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Sources: Adobe Inc's official press releases and regulatory filings; CSIMarket.com's market research; and the financial filings and press releases of the other companies cited.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Adobe Inc versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Adobe Inc's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from SEC filings and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Firefly Neuroscience Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| On24 Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Docusign Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Smartsheet Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Autodesk | Named by the company | 85% |
| Onespan Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Trade Desk Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Criteo S a | Named by the company | 85% |
| Digital Turbine Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Dropbox Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Microsoft | Named by the company | 85% |
| Csg Systems International Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Getty Images Holdings Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Ton Strategy Company | Named by the company | 85% |
| Corel | Named by the company | 85% |
| TikTok | Named by the company | 85% |
| Pc Connection Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Marin Software Incorporated | Named by the company | 85% |
| Vtex | Named by the company | 85% |
| Named by the company | 85% | |
| Amplitude Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Citrix Systems Inc. | Named by the company | 85% |
| Kaltura Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Affinity | Named by the company | 85% |
| Named by the company | 85% | |
| Named by the company | 85% | |
| Fair Isaac Corp | Named by the company | 85% |
| Insight Enterprises Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Shutterstock inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Avid | Named by the company | 85% |
| Snapchat | Named by the company | 85% |
| Klaviyo Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Oculus Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| VERB | Named by the company | 85% |
| Apple | Named by the company | 85% |
| Ability Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Open Text Corp | Named by the company | 85% |
| Pixelworks Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Braze Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
Filing basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Adobe Inc's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: relationships are extracted from SEC filings (named-competitor disclosures) and corroborating sources. Named by the company = explicitly disclosed as a competitor; Inferred = derived from corroborating signals. Confidence reflects evidence strength.
Adobe Inc's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | Reportable 100.00 % |
| Apple Inc | Americas 41.84 % |
| Microsoft Corporation | Productivity and Business Processes 42.19 % |
| Amazon com Inc | North America 57.75 % |
| Oracle Corporation | Cloud and Software Business 83.96 % |
| International Business Machines Corporation | Software 45.22 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Adobe Inc's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | 91,364 | 828,125 | 232,270 |
| Apple Inc | 4,979,446 | 2,812,187 | 776,687 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 3,795,217 | 1,488,067 | 599,771 |
| Amazon com Inc | 2,683,773 | 492,532 | 85,838 |
| Oracle Corporation | 397,830 | 519,617 | 134,184 |
| Sap Se | 246,010 | 374,691 | 74,592 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 13,282,130 | 759,914 | 149,939 |
Adobe Inc's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent filing. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | Americas 58.69 % |
| Microsoft Corporation | US 51.47 % |
| Oracle Corporation | Americas 63.46 % |
| International Business Machines Corporation | Americas 49.04 % |
| Salesforce Inc | Americas 64.97 % |
| Servicenow Inc | North America 63.26 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
Adobe Inc's Position in Industry Market Structure
Market-capitalization share and concentration across all 236 companies in Adobe Inc's industry classification, broader than the peer set above. Market cap in millions of $.Adobe Inc ranks #13 of 236 companies by market capitalization in its industry, holding 1.21 % of total industry market cap. The industry's Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) is 2,661, indicating a highly concentrated market structure (U.S. antitrust guidance: below 1,500 unconcentrated, 1,500 to 2,500 moderately concentrated, above 2,500 highly concentrated).
| Rank | Company | Market Cap | Industry Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft Corporation | 3,756,759 | 50.30 % |
| 2 | Palantir Technologies Inc | 486,305 | 6.51 % |
| 3 | Oracle Corporation | 388,902 | 5.21 % |
| 4 | Sap Se | 268,701 | 3.60 % |
| 5 | Crowdstrike Holdings Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 6 | Salesforce Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 7 | Shopify Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 8 | Full Truck Alliance Co Ltd | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 9 | Servicenow Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 10 | Cloudflare Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 13 | Adobe Inc | 90,530 | 1.21 % |
Market cap and industry share for the rest of Adobe Inc's industry peers requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API (daily market-structure computation) across CSIMarket's industry classification, market capitalization as of 2026-09-28.
Adobe Inc's Same-Size Peers & Stock Performance
Peers chosen by closeness in market-cap rank within the same industry classification (not the named-competitor list above). Trailing 12-month total return, 3-month price momentum, beta and Sharpe ratio vs the broad U.S. market.| Rank | Company | Market Cap | TTM Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Full Truck Alliance Co Ltd | 171,192 | -37.13 % |
| 9 | Servicenow Inc | 132,454 | -30.30 % |
| 10 | Cloudflare Inc | 122,793 | 58.82 % |
| 11 | Snowflake Inc | 112,686 | 45.60 % |
| 12 | Datadog Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 13 | Adobe Inc | 90,530 | -36.41 % |
| 14 | Cadence Design Systems Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 15 | Synopsys Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 16 | Intuit Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 17 | Coreweave Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 18 | Atlassian Corporation | 1,234 | 12.3% |
Market cap, return, momentum, beta and Sharpe ratio for the rest of Adobe Inc's same-size peers requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API (daily market-structure computation); returns and risk metrics as of 2026-09-28. Beta and Sharpe ratio are versus the broad U.S. equity market, not this industry.
Adobe Inc's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Software & Programming industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (343 companies).| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 89.25 % | 64.28 % (avg) | +25.0 pp |
| Operating Margin | 35.70 % | industry median | +4.2 pp |
| EBITDA Margin | 39.05 % | 2.53 % (avg) | +36.5 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 0.82 % | 4.79 % (avg) | -4.0 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
Adobe Inc's Valuation vs Competitive Position
Valuation multiples vs the Software & Programming industry average (343 companies, excluding loss-making/negative-equity outliers), alongside returns on capital for context on whether a premium or discount lines up with measurably stronger or weaker returns.| Metric | Company | Industry Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 14.1x | 39.5x | -25.3x |
| EV / EBITDA | 9.9x | 21.7x | -11.8x |
| P/B | 8.6x | 5.4x | +3.2x |
| Return on Equity | 62.88 % | industry aggregate | 15.01 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 30.80 % | -0.26 % (avg) | 31.06 % |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. A valuation premium or discount is not, by itself, a judgment of over- or under-valuation. Compare it against the return and growth context shown elsewhere on this page.
Adobe Inc's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in SEC filings.| Metric | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | 23.67 % | 23.71 % | 18.71 % | 25.35 % | 16.60 % | 10.24 % | 10.80 % | 10.53 % |
| Operating Margin | 31.45 % | 29.25 % | 15.34 % | 21.97 % | 34.64 % | 34.26 % | 31.35 % | 36.63 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 13.44 % | 14.28 % | 7.12 % | 9.80 % | 18.41 % | 18.64 % | 19.47 % | 27.40 % |
| P/E | 45.3x | 53.3x | 45.0x | 49.4x | 33.3x | 50.6x | 40.1x | 20.5x |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
Adobe Inc's Strategic Group Map
Every company in Adobe Inc's industry and named-competitor list, plotted by trailing 12-month revenue growth and operating margin. Adobe Inc is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC (the Similar Growth & Profitability group above) are labeled.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
Adobe Inc's BCG Growth-Share Matrix
Relative market share (vs Adobe Inc's largest competitor by market cap) against industry revenue growth, using the standard textbook thresholds (1.0x share, 10% growth) a common framework, not a precision instrument.
Adobe Inc falls in the Question Mark quadrant: relative market share of 0.02x vs its largest competitor, in an industry growing revenue 11.6% (median, trailing 12 months).
Source: CSIMarket API (market-cap share and industry revenue growth). The 10% growth and 1.0x share lines are standard textbook thresholds, not derived from this industry's own distribution. A caveat worth reading alongside this chart: Microsoft Corporation alone holds 50% of this industry's market cap. In an industry this dominated by one leader, the framework will place nearly every OTHER company in "Dog" or "Question Mark" purely because relative share is measured against that leader, regardless of how strong those other companies actually are on their own fundamentals. Check the Profitability, Valuation and Financial Strength sections above before treating this quadrant label as a verdict.
Adobe Inc's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive Rivalry | Low | Industry HHI of 2,661 (see Industry Market Structure & Concentration above) |
| Barriers to Entry | Lower than typical for the industry | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 0.82 % vs industry average 4.79 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
| Supplier Power | Not covered on this page | See Adobe Inc's dedicated suppliers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Buyer Power | Not covered on this page | See Adobe Inc's dedicated customers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Threat of Substitutes | - | No systematic data source for cross-product substitution exists in this system; not estimated |
Note: this is a partial, data-grounded application of the framework, not a complete strategic assessment. Rivalry and barriers-to-entry readings are mechanical translations of the HHI and capital-intensity figures shown elsewhere on this page, not independent judgments.
Adobe Inc's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
A CSIMarket composite, not a standard field: each axis is an equal-weighted average of three factors already shown elsewhere on this page (industry growth, industry profitability and rivalry for attractiveness; relative market share, profitability and growth vs industry for strength). Disclosed as a designed methodology, not a precision measurement.
Adobe Inc falls in the Medium attractiveness / Medium strength cell: Selective.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Adobe Inc's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Return on equity 15.0 points above the industry aggregate.
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+4.1% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
Weaknesses
- Underperforming the U.S.A. 500 over the trailing 12 months.
- Low relative market share vs the industry leader (0.02x).
Opportunities
- Industry revenue growing at a healthy 11.6% median pace.
- Trades at a lower P/E than the industry average (14.1x vs 39.5x) despite a higher return on invested capital -- a possible re-rating opportunity.
Threats
- Industry dominated by Microsoft Corporation, holding 50.30 % of industry market cap.
Methodology: mechanical, rule-based SWOT. Each bullet reuses a figure already sourced and cited elsewhere on this page; nothing here is generated narrative or independent analyst judgment.
Adobe Inc's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | 0.46 | 0.85 | 0.55 |
| Apple Inc | 0.26 | 0.96 | 0.99 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 0.13 | 1.31 | 0.11 |
| Amazon com Inc | 0.38 | 1.07 | 0.21 |
| Oracle Corporation | 0.72 | 1.12 | 2.83 |
| Sap Se | 0.47 | 1.16 | - |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Adobe Inc's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | Q3 2026 | +12.9 % | +3.1 % |
| Apple Inc | Q2 2026 | +16.4 % | +27.1 % |
| Microsoft Corporation | Q2 2026 | +17.7 % | +31.3 % |
| Amazon com Inc | Q2 2026 | +19.9 % | +244.9 % |
| Oracle Corporation | Q3 2026 | +24.0 % | +62.6 % |
| Sap Se | Q4 2025 | +7.7 % | +132.6 % |
| PEERS TOTAL | +14.6 % | +50.0 % |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Adobe Inc's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | Q3 2026 | +18.8 % | +18.1 % |
| Apple Inc | Q2 2026 | +8.6 % | -29.1 % |
| Microsoft Corporation | Q2 2026 | +22.9 % | +109.6 % |
| Amazon com Inc | Q2 2026 | +18.5 % | +300.3 % |
| Oracle Corporation | Q3 2026 | - | +235.2 % |
| Sap Se | Q4 2025 | +8.0 % | - |
Adobe Inc's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | 24.46% | 39.34% | 62.88% |
| Apple Inc | 35.02% | 60.14% | 142.67% |
| Microsoft Corporation | 19.76% | 22.48% | 34.22% |
| Amazon com Inc | 15.21% | 23.40% | 30.50% |
| Oracle Corporation | 7.73% | 9.84% | 44.45% |
| Sap Se | 10.41% | 13.84% | 16.25% |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Adobe Inc's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Inc | 12.96 | 3.52 |
| Apple Inc | 38.90 | 10.67 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 28.37 | 11.44 |
| Amazon com Inc | 19.79 | 3.46 |
| Oracle Corporation | 20.79 | 5.43 |
| Sap Se | 34.35 | 5.97 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 29.81 | 5.91 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.