Compare · ADBE and CRM
Adobe vs. Salesforce
Revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and cash returned, side by side from each company's latest annual report.
Both sell subscription software. Adobe's Digital Media includes Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop and Premiere Pro, Firefly and Acrobat; Salesforce's products cover sales, customer service, marketing, integration and analytics. Below are the figures each one reported in its latest annual report (Form 10-K), side by side, with links to the filing behind every number. Salesforce's fiscal year ends on January 31 and Adobe's on November 28, so the two years overlap by ten months. Why fiscal years differ.
Comparing Adobe fiscal 2025 (ended Nov 28, 2025) with Salesforce fiscal 2026 (ended Jan 31, 2026)
AdobeSalesforce
Each pair of bars shows both companies on one scale. Their fiscal years end on different dates, so the periods overlap but aren't identical.
Revenue and growth
| Company | Prior year | Latest year | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe (FY2024 to FY2025) | $21.5B | $23.8B | +10.5% |
| Salesforce (FY2025 to FY2026) | $37.9B | $41.5B | +9.6% |
Adobe reports total revenue: subscriptions to Creative Cloud, Document Cloud and Experience Cloud software, plus some product licenses and services. Salesforce reports total revenues: subscriptions to its cloud software, plus support, professional services and training.
Margins
| Company | Revenue | Operating income | Operating margin | Net income | Net margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe FY2025 | $23.8B | $8.7B | 36.6% | $7.1B | 30.0% |
| Salesforce FY2026 | $41.5B | $8.3B | 20.1% | $7.5B | 18.0% |
Margin is the profit line divided by revenue, worked out by Ticker Sage from the linked figures. What profit margins measure.
Cash flow and cash returned
| Company | Cash from operations | Capital spending | Free cash flow | Buybacks | Dividends paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe FY2025 | $10.0B | $179M | $9.9B | $11.3B | – |
| Salesforce FY2026 | $15.0B | $594M | $14.4B | $12.6B | $1.6B |
Capital spending is property and equipment for both companies, as each company labels it in the cash flow statement. Free cash flow isn't a GAAP line; Ticker Sage works it out the same way for both. A dash means the company's filing data has no figure for that line. How free cash flow works · How buybacks work · How dividends work.
How each one makes money
Adobe
Digital Media includes Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro, Adobe Express, Firefly generative AI, and Document Cloud, which includes Acrobat. Digital Experience sells software for analytics, content management and marketing campaigns to businesses.
Almost all revenue comes from subscriptions. Its fiscal year ends on the Friday closest to November 30. Fiscal 2025 ended Nov 28, 2025.
Salesforce
Most revenue comes from subscriptions, which customers pay for over the contract term. It groups subscription revenue into Service, Sales, Platform (including Slack), Integration and Analytics (including MuleSoft and Tableau), and Marketing and Commerce. Professional services help customers set up and use its products.
Its fiscal year ends on January 31, so fiscal 2026 means the year to Jan 31, 2026.
Main risks each one lists
Adobe
- It competes with large software companies and newer AI-based tools for creators and marketers.
- Generative AI could change demand for its products and raises legal and ethical issues.
- Customers can cancel or move to cheaper plans.
- Breaches or outages could harm customers and its reputation.
- A large share of revenue comes from outside the US, so currency swings affect results.
Salesforce
- Breaches of its systems or customers' data could be very costly.
- Outages at its own or third-party data centers could hurt customers.
- It buys companies to grow, which brings integration risk.
- Customers may not renew or may cut subscriptions.
- Markets are competitive and changing fast with AI.
How they differ
- Size. Salesforce reported $41.5B of revenue for fiscal 2026, and Adobe $23.8B for fiscal 2025.
- Growth. Adobe's revenue grew 10.5% in its latest year and Salesforce's 9.6%.
- Margins. Salesforce kept 18.0% of revenue as net income and Adobe 30.0%.
- Fiscal calendar. Salesforce's year ends in January, Adobe's in November, so news in one company's latest 10-K can be up to two months newer than in the other's.
- Overlap. Both sell marketing software: Adobe through Digital Experience, Salesforce through Marketing and Commerce.
- Subscriptions. Almost all Adobe revenue comes from subscriptions; most Salesforce revenue does too, plus professional services.
Differences in size, growth or margin describe the past year only. None of this says which business will do better.
Sources
- Adobe Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Jan 15, 2026
- Salesforce Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, filed Mar 2, 2026
Adobe company file → · Salesforce company file →
Common questions
Which is bigger by revenue, Salesforce or Adobe?
Salesforce reported $41.5B of revenue for fiscal 2026 and Adobe $23.8B for fiscal 2025. Their fiscal years end on different dates.
Do Adobe and Salesforce sell the same products?
Only in part. Both sell software for marketing campaigns; Adobe also sells creative and document apps, and Salesforce sells sales and customer service software.
How do their profit margins compare?
In the latest fiscal year Salesforce's net margin was 18.0% and Adobe's was 30.0%, worked out from the net income and revenue in each 10-K.
Where do these numbers come from?
From each company's latest Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Every figure on this page links to the filing it came from.
Disclosures
- Editor holdings
- The editor holds no position in any company named on this page. As of Oct 25, 2026.
- Compensation
- Nobody paid for this page. No affiliate links on this page.
- Sources
- Each company's own SEC filings, linked next to each number.
- Last updated
- Oct 26, 2026
General education, the same for every reader. Not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and it doesn't consider your situation.
More in Learn · Methodology & Disclosures explains where every number comes from.