Adobe Systems Posts Drop In 2Q Profit, Sales

Adobe expects revenue of $665 million to $715 million, bracketing analysts' estimates of $676 million.

The company, which said in December it is cutting 600 jobs, or 8 percent of its work force, reported a 13 percent decline in operating expenses for the quarter, to $471.3 million.

Chief Financial Officer Mark Garrett said Adobe is continuing to invest in the areas of its business that will drive growth once the economy recovers. These include its core Acrobat and Creative Suite products, which bring in the bulk of Adobe's revenue, as well as products like LiveCycle, which is aimed at large businesses.

Acrobat is the set of software that creates and reads the ubiquitous PDF electronic documents. Creative Suite is a software package aimed at professional designers and Web developers. It includes Photoshop, Flash and Web design software Dreamweaver, among other applications.

Earlier this week, Adobe introduced an enhanced subscription service for its previously free Acrobat.com Web site, a step toward offering its software as services rather than just packaged products. The Acrobat subscription services target professionals and small businesses who want to work together online.

Adobe's shares slid 77 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $27.40 in after-hours trading. Before the results were announced, the stock closed down 65 cents, or 2.3 percent, at $28.17.