The stock market ended Thursday mixed, weighed down primarily by declines in Microsoft (MSFT) and other software stocks. Investor sentiment weakened after Microsoft’s quarterly earnings report, as Azure’s slower growth and a sharp rise in capital expenditures disappointed the market.
Overall, S&P 500 declined 0.1% to 6,969, while NASDAQ fell 0.7% to 23,685.
Chart of the Day
Here is the one-year chart of Adobe (ADBE) as of December 24, 2025, when the stock was at $353.
Adobe stock has fallen from around $460 a year ago to ~$350 this quarter as investors fear other AI programs will cause its business to erode. Still, Adobe is growing nicely as its products are geared towards professionals.
Last quarter, the company delivered 14% profit growth on 10% revenue growth. AI-powered products like Acrobat AI Assistant, Firefly, and GenStudio are already driving billions in annual recurring revenue.
ADBE is part of our Conservative Growth Portfolio.
We think profits — and perhaps the stock — could grow 12% to 15% a year long-term. However, there is a “cloud” having over the stocks, and that is the risk of competition from companies like Canva offering similar services for a fraction of the cost and Figma, which allows multiple users to work on the same image/video at the same time.
