Adobe on a roll as it posts 41% gain

For the three months ended May 30, Adobe, the company which makes Photoshop design software and the Acrobat publishing tool, reported net income of $214.9 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with $152.5 million, or 25 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Profit rose 41 percent in the second quarter on strong global sales; Adobe Systems reported on Monday.

Excluding special items, Adobe reported income of $272.7 million, or 50 cents a share, compared with $223.2 million, or 37 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Edward Jones analyst Andy Miedler said Adobe's results are due largely to a historic product cycle for Adobe, which is benefiting from the most recent version of its flagship Creative Suite product, with more high-profile releases expected late this year and early next year.

"With certain companies we expect good results in both good and bad economic times, and Adobe is certainly an example of that," Miedler said.

For its fiscals' third quarter, Adobe said it expects revenue between $855 million and $885 million, and earnings excluding special items between 45 and 47 cents a share.

Analysts have been estimating Adobe would post third-quarter revenue of $877.5 million, and earnings excluding special items of 45 cents a share, according to FactSet.

Adobe shares have risen more than 30% in the past three months, after peaking in October at $48.47 -- an all-time high on a split-adjusted basis.

Adobe said its creative solutions unit, which includes the Creative Suite 3 bundled product, saw revenue grow 21% from the same period a year earlier, to $527.2 million.

The company said it plans to update Creative Suite 3, or CS3, in the third quarter by adding a version of its Acrobat document software that supports embedded video.

Adobe saw no revenue growth in the Americas in the recently-ended quarter, chief financial officer Mark Garrett said that is expected to change in its current, third quarter thanks in part to the new Acrobat release and CS3 upgrade.

While Adobe's mobile and devices unit saw sharp revenue growth of 80% in the second quarter compared to the period a year earlier, to $22.2 million.

The company is now working to develop a version of its Flash Web animation software for mobile devices to work on Apple Inc.'s (popularly known as iPhone).

FactSet reported that analysts’ average estimate for earnings excluding special items for the year is $1.89 a share.