Adobe Surpasses Growth Expectations

Adobe Systems Inc. said operating earnings grew 25% in its second quarter to $121.5 million, or 34 cents a share, well above the average analyst estimate of 29 cents, on a 15% rise in revenue to $344.1 million.

The software maker’s results were helped by the release of Adobe Acrobat 5.0, a new version of the portable document format reader that has become a standard for document distribution on the Web.

However, the San Jose-based company said a slowdown in sales in Europe and North America will continue in the third quarter, resulting in flat revenue from the year-ago period. It also factored in a “potential slowdown” in Asia. Revenue growth likely will improve in the fourth quarter when major product upgrades will be rolled out, Adobe said.

Adobe shares closed off $1.17 at $39.01 on Nasdaq, before the earnings were announced.