Overview
- Adobe has launched a formal succession process, with a special committee chaired by lead independent director Frank Calderoni to evaluate internal and external candidates, and the search is expected to take a few months.
- Narayen will remain CEO during the transition and will stay on as chair of the board once a successor is appointed.
- For fiscal Q1, Adobe beat estimates with adjusted EPS of $6.06 on revenue of $6.40 billion and guided Q2 revenue to $6.43–$6.48 billion with EPS of $5.80–$5.85.
- The company said annualized revenue from AI‑first products more than tripled year over year, including moves to bring Acrobat, Express and Photoshop into ChatGPT and to expand its partnership with WPP.
- Shares fell roughly 6%–7% in after-hours trading and are down about 22%–23% year to date, as analysts stress the next leader must balance disciplined execution with faster AI investment.