PacCrest Analyst Sees Early Checks In Adobe 'Encouraging'

In a report published Tuesday, Pacific Crest analyst Brendan Barnicle maintained an Overweight rating and price target of $85 on Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE). Early checks with the company's resellers in the U.S., UK, Germany and Austria have been "encouraging."

"Resellers see growing acceptance and adoption of Adobe's Creative Cloud. More importantly, resellers report that customers are renewing their Creative Cloud subscriptions at list price. While Adobe offered promotional pricing for the first year of the subscriptions, we see less discounting upon renewal," Barnicle stated.

Following the company's promotional pricing during the first year of Creative Cloud subscriptions, there had been concerns that such pricing would need to continue for Adobe to be able to win renewals. However, reseller checks suggest a decrease in promotional pricing, which is likely to drive ARPU growth for the company, despite there being thousands of new subscribers who have subscribed for a single application, which is priced lower.

According to the Pacific Crest report, "While some resellers continue to express some frustration with the move to the Creative Cloud, they recognize that there are no alternative products in the market. Therefore, Adobe continues to have great pricing power."

In addition, the reseller checks suggest that large deals have been closed for the Adobe Marketing Cloud.