Will ADBE’s $25B Share Buyback Help Its Lift Stock Prices?

• Adobe announces a suite of AI products geared towards corporates to compete in the AI race.
• Retail chatter sends mixed signals on the effect of the $25 billion share repurchase program on ADBE share prices. 
• 35 analysts rate the stock ‘buy’ or higher and four rate the stock ‘sell’.

Adobe (ADBE) shares rose 2% after-market after the company announced a $25 billion share repurchase program, while its recent announcements of AI integration into its products have helped support investor sentiment. 

The program will remain in effect until April 30, 2030. “This initiative is designed to deliver value to shareholders, systematically decrease the total outstanding share count, and assist in mitigating the dilution arising from the issuance of new stock,” Adobe said in a statement. 

Adobe also launched a suite of AI tools targeted towards corporates to automate and personalize digital marketing functions in a bid to compete with a wave of AI-powered tools by Claude maker Anthropic and ChatGPT’s OpenAI which are hurting legacy software developers.

ADBE Introduces CX Enterprise

At the Adobe Summit on Monday, April 20, Adobe unveiled Adobe CX Enterprise, a comprehensive agentic AI designed to help corporates streamline end-to-end user journey.

“Adobe CX Enterprise enables businesses to scale agentic AI with a fully customisable solution that is tailored to the needs of their organisation, moving teams beyond AI experiments to tangible business outcomes,” said Anil Chakravarthy, president, Customer Experience Orchestration Business, Adobe.

The offering builds on the existing Adobe Experience Manager with a new layer which enables AI agents to support governance and content creation.  

On April 15, Adobe announced a partnership with Anthropic under which its Firefly AI Assistant — which uses plain language to handle everyday Adobe tasks — will integrate  Anthropic’s flagship Claude AI model.

What Are Analysts Saying?

According to data from Koyfin, 35 analysts rate the stock ‘buy’ or higher and four analysts rate the stock ‘sell’. 

The average 12-month share price target for ADBE was $329.28 per share, marking an upside of 33.2%. 

"I think that this concept that software is dead, and then Anthropic and OpenAI are going to kill the entire industry, is just over-exaggerated," said Brent Thill, Jefferies tech analyst earlier in April. 

What Are Retail Investors Saying?

One user reiterated their confidence on the timing of the share buyback. 

Another user raised concerns about the buyback program benefiting select top shareholders. 

The stock has lost 30% year-to-date (YTD).

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.