Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) Files An 8-K Results of Operations and Financial Condition

On June 20, 2017, Adobe Systems Incorporated (“Adobe”) issued a press release announcing its financial results for its second>fiscal quarter ended June 2, 2017. A copy of this press release is furnished and attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information in this report and the exhibit attached hereto are being furnished and shall not be deemed filed for purposes of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly stated by specific reference in such filing.

The attached press release includes non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP tax rate and non-GAAP diluted net income per share.

These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, generally accepted accounting principles and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. We believe that non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and that these measures should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.

For our internal budgeting and resource allocation process, we use non-GAAP financial measures, net of the related tax impacts, which exclude: (A) stock-based and deferred compensation expenses; (B) restructuring and other charges; (C) amortization of purchased intangibles and technology license arrangements; (D) investment gains and losses; (E) income tax adjustments; and (F) the income tax effect of the non-GAAP pre-tax adjustments from the provision for income taxes.

We use these non-GAAP financial measures in making operating decisions because we believe the measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our operational performance and give us a better understanding of how we should invest in research and development and fund infrastructure and go-to-market strategies. We use these measures to help us make budgeting decisions, for example, as between product development expenses and research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses and to facilitate our internal comparisons to our historical operating results. In addition, we believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful because they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. This allows institutional investors, the analyst community and others to better understand and evaluate our operating results and future prospects in the same manner as management and to compare operating results across accounting periods and to those of our peer companies.

As described above, we exclude the following items from one or more of our non-GAAP measures:

A. Stock-based and deferred compensation expenses and related tax impact. Stock-based compensation expense consists of charges for employee restricted stock units, performance shares, stock options and employee stock purchases in accordance with current GAAP related to stock-based compensation including expense associated with stock-based compensation related to unvested options and restricted stock units assumed in connection with our acquisitions. As we apply current stock-based compensation standards, we believe that it is useful to investors to understand the impact of the application of these standards to our operational performance, liquidity and our ability to invest in research and development and fund acquisitions and capital expenditures. Although stock-based compensation expense is calculated in accordance with current GAAP and constitutes an ongoing and recurring expense, such expense is excluded from non-GAAP results because it is not an expense that typically requires or will require cash settlement by us and because such expense is not used by us to assess the core profitability of our business operations. Deferred compensation expense consists of charges associated with movements in our liability related to our deferred compensation plan. Although deferred compensation expense constitutes an ongoing and recurring expense, such expense is excluded from non-GAAP results because it is not an expense that typically requires current cash settlement by us and because such expense is not used by us to assess the core profitability of our business operations. We further believe these measures are useful to investors in that they allow for greater transparency to certain line items in our financial statements. In addition, excluding these items from various non-GAAP measures facilitates comparisons to our competitors’ operating results.

B. Restructuring and other charges and related tax impact.>During the past several years, we have initiated certain restructuring activities in order to align our costs in connection with both our operating plans and our business strategies based on then-current economic conditions. As a result, we recognized costs related to termination benefits for former Adobe employees whose positions were eliminated and the consolidation of leased facilities. Restructuring and other charges are excluded from non-GAAP results because such expense is not used by us to assess the core profitability of our business operations.