How Will Adobe Stock React To Its Upcoming Earnings?
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) is set to report its earnings on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. The company has $143 Bil in current market capitalization. Revenue over the last twelve months was $23 Bil, and it was operationally profitable with $8.4 Bil in operating profits and net income of $7.0 Bil. While the post-earnings stock reaction will depend on how the results and outlook stack up against investor expectations, a detailed look at historical results can aid you if you are an event-driven trader.
Here is how: either understand the historical odds and position yourself prior to the earnings announcement, or look at the correlation between immediate and medium-term returns post earnings and enter a trade one day after the announcement.
See earnings reaction history of all stocks
Stock picking can fail no matter how good the strategy is. The Trefis High Quality Portfolio turns single-stock insights into a robust market-beating portfolio strategy.
Adobe’s Historical Odds Of Positive Post-Earnings Return
Some observations on one-day (1D) post-earnings returns:
- There are 20 earnings data points recorded over the last five years, with 5 positive and 15 negative one-day (1D) returns observed. In summary, positive 1D returns were seen about 25% of the time.
- Notably, this percentage increases to 33% if we consider data for the last 3 years instead of 5.
- Median of the 5 positive returns = 3.0%, and median of the 15 negative returns = -6.3%
Additional data for observed 5-Day (5D) and 21-Day (21D) returns post earnings are summarized along with the statistics in the table below.
| Forward Returns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings Date | 1D Returns | 5D Returns | 21D Returns |
| 9/11/2025 | -0.3% | 4.8% | -3.7% |
| 6/12/2025 | -5.3% | -8.9% | -12.5% |
| 3/12/2025 | -13.9% | -11.6% | -20.2% |
| 12/11/2024 | -13.7% | -19.8% | -25.0% |
| 9/12/2024 | -8.5% | -10.2% | -15.5% |
| 6/13/2024 | 14.5% | 16.3% | 23.5% |
| 3/14/2024 | -13.7% | -10.4% | -17.6% |
| 12/13/2023 | -6.3% | -4.5% | -4.3% |
| 9/14/2023 | -4.2% | -6.9% | -0.6% |
| 6/15/2023 | 0.9% | -1.3% | 8.4% |
| 3/15/2023 | 5.9% | 8.4% | 13.7% |
| 12/15/2022 | 3.0% | 2.4% | 3.8% |
| 9/15/2022 | -16.8% | -22.9% | -20.7% |
| 6/16/2022 | -1.2% | 6.2% | 6.2% |
| 3/22/2022 | -9.3% | -0.0% | -10.5% |
| 12/16/2021 | -10.2% | -10.5% | -17.4% |
| 9/21/2021 | -3.1% | -10.4% | -2.1% |
| 6/17/2021 | 2.6% | 4.9% | 9.2% |
| 3/23/2021 | -1.9% | 1.1% | 10.2% |
| 12/10/2020 | -1.4% | 1.3% | -2.0% |
| SUMMARY STATS | |||
| # Positive | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| # Negative | 15 | 12 | 13 |
| Median Positive | 3.0% | 4.9% | 9.2% |
| Median Negative | -6.3% | -10.3% | -12.5% |
| Max Positive | 14.5% | 16.3% | 23.5% |
| Max Negative | -16.8% | -22.9% | -25.0% |
Correlation Between 1D, 5D and 21D Historical Returns
A relatively less risky strategy (though not useful if the correlation is low) is to understand the correlation between short-term and medium-term returns post earnings, find a pair that has the highest correlation, and execute the appropriate trade. For example, if 1D and 5D show the highest correlation, a trader can position themselves “long” for the next 5 days if the 1D post-earnings return is positive. Here is some correlation data based on a 5-year and a 3-year (more recent) history. Note that the correlation 1D_5D refers to the correlation between 1D post-earnings returns and subsequent 5D returns.
| History | 1D_5D Returns | 1D_21D Returns | 5D_21D Returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5Y History | 24.8% | 71.0% | 11.1% |
| 3Y History | 23.6% | 79.0% | 36.9% |
Is There Any Correlation With Peer Earnings?
Sometimes, peer performance can have an influence on post-earnings stock reaction. In fact, the pricing-in might begin before the earnings are announced. Here is some historical data on the past post-earnings performance of Adobe stock compared with the stock performance of peers that reported earnings just before Adobe. For fair comparison, peer stock returns also represent post-earnings one-day (1D) returns.
| 1D Return | Peer Post-Earnings 1D Return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADBE Earnings Dates | ADBE | CRM | INTU | ADSK |
| 9/11/2025 | -0.3% | -3.8% | -5.3% | 12.5% |
| 6/12/2025 | -5.3% | -3.3% | 15.0% | 1.2% |
| 3/12/2025 | -13.9% | -7.4% | 6.4% | -10.8% |
| 12/11/2024 | -13.7% | 7.1% | -1.2% | -3.3% |
| 9/12/2024 | -8.5% | -2.1% | N/A* | 0.5% |
| 6/13/2024 | 14.5% | -15.7% | N/A* | 5.8% |
| 3/14/2024 | -13.7% | 1.3% | N/A* | 0.1% |
| 12/13/2023 | -6.3% | 11.7% | 8.0% | 7.9% |
| 9/14/2023 | -4.2% | 1.7% | 9.8% | 6.0% |
| 6/15/2023 | 0.9% | -5.1% | 1.4% | 12.1% |
| 3/15/2023 | 5.9% | 9.3% | -1.3% | -11.5% |
| 12/15/2022 | 3.0% | -18.6% | N/A* | -7.1% |
| 9/15/2022 | -16.8% | -14.0% | -6.1% | -6.1% |
| 6/16/2022 | -1.2% | -0.2% | 0.2% | -14.3% |
| 3/22/2022 | -9.3% | 4.5% | N/A* | -0.7% |
| 12/16/2021 | -10.2% | -11.2% | 0.8% | -11.3% |
| 9/21/2021 | -3.1% | -1.1% | 0.2% | -17.3% |
| 6/17/2021 | 2.6% | 8.2% | N/A* | -3.6% |
| 3/23/2021 | -1.9% | -7.0% | N/A* | -5.3% |
| CORRELATION | -20.2% | -41.4% | 11.5% | |
* N/A indicates that the peer reported earnings after ADBE
Separately, if you want upside with a smoother ride than an individual stock such as ADBE, consider the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 — the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.