Adobe Stock Looks Cheap for a Reason. Here’s Why I’m Buying.

Vandita Jadeja

Sat, August 22, 2026 at 7:10 PM GMT+3 4 min read

Quick Read

Adobe (ADBE) trades at 10x forward earnings despite AI-first ARR tripling YoY to $500M, pointing to a $307 buy target.
Salesforce (CRM) trades near 23x trailing P/E while Autodesk (ADSK) earns roughly half Adobe's EPS, making Adobe's 10x multiple look deeply undervalued.
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Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) has been one of the most punished large-cap software names of the past year, and the discount has finally gotten interesting. The stock trades at 10x forward earnings, a multiple typically reserved for mature hardware companies rather than a software business generating $27.10 billion in ARR.

Travis Wolfe / Shutterstock.com

Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Adobe is $307.15, implying roughly 12% upside from the current quote of $276.63. The recommendation is buy, with our model expressing high confidence at 90%.

Why the Selloff Created the Setup

Adobe is down 22.22% year to date and 22.98% over the past year, even after rallying 19.84% in the last month off deeply oversold levels. Shares sit well below the 52-week high of $370.86 but comfortably above the $190.12 low.

The June Q2 FY26 print delivered record revenue of $6.62 billion, up 13% YoY, and non-GAAP EPS of $5.96. Yet the stock still fell 6.76% on the day, a pattern of beat-and-sell that has defined the past six quarters.

The narrative overhang is real. CFO Dan Durn departed June 15, 2026, CEO Shantanu Narayen is transitioning to board chair, and management is accepting a short-term ARR trade-off to expand its freemium funnel. That combination compressed the multiple and created the attractive entry.

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ADBE Price Target — 24/7 Wall St.

Why Bulls See a Breakout Ahead

The bull case is straightforward: Adobe is monetizing AI faster than the market reflects. AI-first ARR tripled YoY and exceeded $500 million in Q2, Firefly ARR is approaching $300 million, and Acrobat AI Assistant ARR grew roughly 3x YoY. Narayen framed the freemium pivot as building a base that could "pay off for decades".

Management raised FY26 guidance to $26.50 billion to $26.60 billion in revenue and non-GAAP EPS of $24.35 to $24.45. Adobe also has roughly $27 billion in buyback authorization remaining. Our bull-scenario price is $337.39, a 23% return.

ADBE Price Scenario — 24/7 Wall St.

What Could Go Wrong

The bear case starts with leadership. Losing a CFO and searching for a CEO simultaneously is a governance risk. The freemium shift explicitly lowers second-half ARR growth from individual subscribers, and GAAP EPS absorbed a $70 million goodwill impairment on the publishing and advertising unit.

On a non-GAAP basis Adobe still grew EPS 18% YoY, and the deferred Creative Cloud price actions are, per management, a deferral rather than a cancellation. If AI-native competitors erode Creative Cloud pricing power, our bear-scenario price is $262.94.

How Adobe Compares to Salesforce and Autodesk

Two US-listed peers frame the valuation. Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is the closest large-cap AI-monetization comparison, with , and a trailing P/E of roughly 23. CRM commands a materially richer multiple despite similar AI-first ARR momentum, making Adobe's forward multiple of 10 look conservative.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) is the creative-software counterweight, growing Q1 FY27 revenue 18.4% YoY to $1.93 billion and guiding FY27 non-GAAP EPS of $12.40 to $12.65. Adobe is roughly twice as profitable per share yet trades at a lower forward multiple. The peer set makes our $307.15 target look reasonable, arguably conservative.

ADBE Analyst Ratings — 24/7 Wall St.

Where the Setup Stands Now

My verdict: Buy, target $307.15, 90% confidence. Paying 10x forward earnings for a business with 35.3% operating margins and accelerating AI ARR is the kind of setup I want to own.

I'd add here if Adobe demonstrates freemium-to-paid conversion in the next two earnings reports. I'd step aside if enterprise CX growth decelerates below 20% or if the CEO search drags into fiscal 2027 without clarity.

These projections assume Adobe successfully converts freemium users to paid tiers and preserves its non-GAAP operating margin near 45%. Significant upside could come from faster Firefly monetization; downside would emerge from AI competition eroding Creative Cloud pricing power.