Piper Jaffray: Adobe's Checks Suggest Q1 Above Consensus

In a research report published earlier today by Piper Jaffray, Adobe Systems' ADBE checks with half of its 20 U.S. distributors foreshadow that its Q1 results will likely be above consensus. In the report, Piper Jaffray commented, “Domestic distributors, on average, expect their Adobe business to be down 1% q/q in the February quarter vs. consensus for overall Adobe revenue down 9% q/q. If domestic revenue is down 1%, as our checks suggest, and international is up 4%, as historical trends suggest, Q1 revenue would be up ~1.5% q/q, ahead of the Street at -9% q/q. It is important to keep in mind that the February quarter could be negatively impacted by customers anticipating the May quarter launch of CS6, but we believe the company is well positioned to hit, and potentially exceed, Street numbers.” Piper Jaffray maintains its Neutral rating and $30 PT on Adobe Systems, which closed Friday at $33.73.