ADBE
Adobe Inc.
ADBE has the edge over IBM overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation
IBM offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
ADBE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
ADBE's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
IBM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Under pressure |
IBM's profitability and cash flow are currently strong, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
ADBE PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 8.9x | $239 | — |
| Current | 13x | $239 | — |
| Cheap | 22x | $396 | +66% |
| Fair | 43x | $771 | +223% |
| Expensive | 54x | $972 | +308% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ADBE has the edge over IBM in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
IBM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 17x | $194 | -21% |
| Forward | 19x | $245 | — |
| Current | 21x | $245 | — |
| Fair | 23x | $274 | +12% |
| Expensive | 46x | $538 | +120% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
IBM's PE is in its cheap range at 21x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 19x next year's earnings.
ADBE Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
ADBE has the edge over IBM on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
IBM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect IBM's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
ADBE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $26.84 | +50% |
| Q3 2026 | $17.91 | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $17.47 | +12% |
| Q1 2026 | $17.16 | +13% |
| Q4 2025 | $16.70 | +35% |
| Q3 2025 | $16.01 | +35% |
| Q2 2025 | $15.59 | +40% |
| Q1 2025 | $15.14 | +45% |
| Q4 2024 | $12.36 | +4.6% |
ADBE's earnings per share have climbed steadily: $17.91 over the past year, up 12% from the year before, and higher year over year for 16 quarters in a row.
IBM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $13.06 | +11% |
| Q3 2026 | $11.75 | +40% |
| Q2 2026 | $11.29 | +83% |
| Q1 2026 | $11.33 | +94% |
| Q4 2025 | $11.17 | +74% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.38 | +22% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.18 | -32% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.83 | -34% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.43 | -21% |
IBM earned $11.75 per share over the past year, up 40% from the year before.
ADBE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6.8B | +13% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.6B | +13% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.4B | +12% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.2B | +10% |
| Q3 2025 | $6B | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.9B | +11% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.7B | +10% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.6B | +11% |
ADBE has the edge over IBM on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 35% | -1.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 34% | -2.1 points |
| Q1 2026 | 38% | -0.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 37% | +1.6 points |
| Q3 2025 | 36% | -0.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 36% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 38% | +20 points |
| Q4 2024 | 35% | +0.4 points |
ADBE has the edge over IBM on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
IBM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $17.1B | +4.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $17.2B | +1.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $15.9B | +9.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $19.7B | +12% |
| Q3 2025 | $16.3B | +9.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $17B | +7.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $14.5B | +0.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $17.6B | +1% |
IBM's revenue has grown year over year for 13 quarters in a row: $17.1B last quarter, up 4.7% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 15% | -0.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 14% | -0.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 8.7% | +0.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 21% | +2.2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 15% | +20 points |
| Q2 2025 | 15% | +1.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 8% | +0.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | -2.8 points |
IBM's operating margin was 15% last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
ADBE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.4B | +15% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.1B | -1.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.9B | +19% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.1B | +8.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.1B | +8.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.1B | +13% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.5B | +116% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.9B | +85% |
ADBE has the edge over IBM on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
IBM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.7B | +31% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.4B | +59% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.9B | +20% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.7B | -9.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.8B | +8.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.5B | -19% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.1B | +5% |
| Q4 2024 | $4B | -3.3% |
IBM's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $14.7B over the past year, up 18% from the year before.
ADBE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -1.7% | -7M shares |
| 1 year | -6.7% | -28.6M shares |
| 3 years | -14% | -64M shares |
| 5 years | -18% | -85.2M shares |
| Available history | -20% | -96.1M shares |
ADBE has the edge over IBM on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.2B |
| Q2 2026 | $2.1B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.5B |
| Q4 2025 | $2.5B |
| Q3 2025 | $2.1B |
| Q2 2025 | $3.5B |
| Q1 2025 | $3.3B |
| Q4 2024 | $2.5B |
ADBE spent $9.3B buying back its own shares over the past year, down 18% from the year before.
IBM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | +260K shares |
| 1 year | +0.5% | +4.6M shares |
| 3 years | +3.2% | +29.9M shares |
| 5 years | +5.3% | +47.6M shares |
| Available history | +2.1% | +19.6M shares |
IBM has 954M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2019 | — |
ADBE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.0x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | -0.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
ADBE has the edge over IBM on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
IBM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 4.0x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 4.2x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 5.5x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 5.6x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 4.4x | High |
IBM's net debt is about 3.9 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 4.2 years a year ago.
ADBE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 45.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 25.8 | Neutral |
ADBE's weekly RSI is 45 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 26 (neutral).
IBM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 74.8 | Neutral |
IBM's weekly RSI is 50 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 75 (neutral).
ADBE PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | ADBE | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 13x | 28x | 52% below |
| PE % | 3 | 35 | 32 pts below |
ADBE has the edge over IBM on valuation relative to its sector.
IBM PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | IBM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 21x | 28x | 25% below |
| PE % | 31 | 35 | 4 pts below |
IBM is trading at 21x earnings, a 25% discount to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
ADBE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $244.1 | 2.3% below |
| 20 week MA | $248.6 | 4.1% below |
| 50 week MA | $261.6 | 8.8% below |
| 100 week MA | $321.8 | 26% below |
| 200 week MA | $410.6 | 42% below |
ADBE is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 42% below its 200-week average.
IBM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $238.6 | 2.6% above |
| 20 week MA | $239.3 | 2.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $256.6 | 4.6% below |
| 100 week MA | $258.5 | 5.3% below |
| 200 week MA | $212.3 | 15% above |
IBM has the edge over ADBE on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
ADBE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $330.8 | $499.9 | +51% |
| 2021 | $499.9 | $569.6 | +14% |
| 2022 | $569.6 | $338.5 | -41% |
| 2023 | $338.5 | $596.6 | +76% |
| 2024 | $596.6 | $446.5 | -25% |
| 2025 | $446.5 | $353.8 | -21% |
| 2026 YTD | $353.8 | $238.5 | -33% |
ADBE has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 33% so far in 2026.
IBM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $129.3 | $119.2 | -7.8% |
| 2021 | $119.2 | $130.6 | +9.6% |
| 2022 | $130.6 | $141.7 | +8.4% |
| 2023 | $141.7 | $163.6 | +15% |
| 2024 | $163.6 | $222.8 | +36% |
| 2025 | $222.8 | $305.1 | +37% |
| 2026 YTD | $305.1 | $244.7 | -20% |
IBM has the edge over ADBE on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.