Adobe Puts 4th-Quarter Earnings at ‘High End’

Adobe Systems Inc., the world’s biggest maker of graphic-design software, said fourth-quarter sales and profit would be at the “high end” of its forecasts on demand for its Photoshop and Illustrator programs.

The San Jose company in September forecast profit of 27 cents to 29 cents a share on sales of $490 million to $510 million in the period ending Dec. 2, and on Wednesday predicted the higher end of that range.

Adobe is benefiting from sales of Creative Suite 2, a package that includes Photoshop and Illustrator, and the Acrobat document-exchange program.

Analysts expected profit of 29 cents a share, the average of 22 estimates in a Thomson Financial survey. Sales estimates average $506.3 million. Adobe posted earnings of 23 cents and sales of $429.5 million a year earlier.