Adobe vs Salesforce: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Adobe reported $23.8B of revenue in FY2025 and $7.1B of net income. Salesforce reported $41.5B of revenue in FY2026 and $7.5B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Adobe
- Latest revenue
- $23.8B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $7.1B
- Net margin
- 30.0%
- Revenue growth
- +16.8% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Salesforce
- Latest revenue
- $41.5B (FY2026)
- Net income
- $7.5B
- Net margin
- 18.0%
- Revenue growth
- +19.4% a year, FY2017–FY2026
Financial summary
Adobe
Revenue rose from $5.854 billion in fiscal 2016 to $23.769 billion in fiscal 2025. Fiscal 2025 net income was $7.130 billion, compared with $5.560 billion in fiscal 2024. Adobe's fiscal years in this series ended on the Friday closest to November 30 or, in some years, early December.
Salesforce
Salesforce grew revenue from $8.4 billion in fiscal 2017 to $41.5 billion in fiscal 2026, helped by acquisitions such as MuleSoft, Tableau and Slack. After activist investors including Elliott and Starboard took stakes in early 2023, the company cut about 10% of staff, disbanded its board M&A committee and shifted to margins and capital returns. Fiscal 2026 brought $7.46 billion of GAAP net income, $14.4 billion of free cash flow and $14.3 billion returned to shareholders. In Q2 fiscal 2027 (ended July 31, 2026) revenue rose 11% to $11.345 billion, and full-year guidance was raised to $46.1 billion to $46.4 billion.
Revenue and profit by year
Adobe
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $23.8B | $7.1B | 30.0% | +10.5% | Source |
| FY2024 | $21.5B | $5.6B | 25.9% | +10.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $19.4B | $5.4B | 28.0% | +10.2% | Source |
| FY2022 | $17.6B | $4.8B | 27.0% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $15.8B | $4.8B | 30.5% | +22.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $12.9B | $5.3B | 40.9% | +15.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | $11.2B | $3B | 26.4% | +23.7% | Source |
| FY2018 | $9B | $2.6B | 28.7% | +23.7% | Source |
| FY2017 | $7.3B | $1.7B | 23.2% | +24.7% | Source |
| FY2016 | $5.9B | $1.2B | 20.0% | — | Source |
Salesforce
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $41.5B | $7.5B | 18.0% | +9.6% | Source |
| FY2025 | $37.9B | $6.2B | 16.4% | +8.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $34.9B | $4.1B | 11.9% | +11.2% | Source |
| FY2023 | $31.4B | $208M | 0.7% | +18.3% | Source |
| FY2022 | $26.5B | $1.4B | 5.5% | +24.7% | Source |
| FY2021 | $21.3B | $4.1B | 19.2% | +24.3% | Source |
| FY2020 | $17.1B | $126M | 0.7% | +28.7% | Source |
| FY2019 | $13.3B | $1.1B | 8.4% | +26.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $10.5B | $360M | 3.4% | +25.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $8.4B | $323M | 3.8% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Adobe
- Digital Media74.3%
Creative Cloud and Document Cloud generated $17.649 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue.
- Digital Experience24.7%
Customer-experience applications and services generated $5.864 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue.
- Publishing and Advertising1.1%
Publishing products and advertising offerings generated $256 million in fiscal 2025 revenue.
Salesforce
- Sales cloud subscriptions
- Service cloud subscriptions
- Platform and data subscriptions
- Marketing and commerce subscriptions
- Analytics and integration products
- Professional services
Business model and strategy
Adobe
How it makes money
Adobe earns most of its revenue from subscriptions. In fiscal 2025, subscription revenue was $22.904 billion, or about 96% of total revenue. Digital Media includes Creative Cloud and Document Cloud, while Digital Experience includes applications and services for customer experience management. Adobe also reports a smaller Publishing and Advertising business.
Growth strategy
Adobe's stated strategy includes expanding Creative Cloud and Document Cloud, developing Firefly and other AI capabilities, and growing customer-experience applications. In 2026 Adobe also announced that Anil Chakravarthy, who leads Customer Experience Orchestration and worldwide field operations, will become CEO on December 1, 2026.
Competitive advantage
Adobe combines established creative applications, the PDF and Acrobat document workflow, and customer-experience software in subscription offerings. Its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K says its markets are competitive and subject to rapid technology change, so continued product development and customer retention remain important.
Salesforce
How it makes money
Salesforce sells multi-year software subscriptions, mostly priced per user per month, plus consumption pricing for Data 360 and Agentforce. In fiscal 2026 (ended January 31, 2026), subscription and support revenue was $39.39 billion, about 95% of the $41.53 billion total; professional services added $2.14 billion.
Growth strategy
Salesforce is pushing three levers: Agentforce AI agents priced on consumption or flex credits, Data 360 (formerly Data Cloud) to unify customer data, and the Informatica acquisition, closed in November 2025, to add data management and governance. It also cross-sells Slack as the interface for agents and keeps buying back stock under a $50 billion authorization announced in February 2026.
Competitive advantage
Salesforce's advantage is switching cost. Large customers build years of custom objects, workflows, integrations and AppExchange apps on the platform and train administrators on it, so replacing it means re-implementing core sales and service processes. Owning Slack, MuleSoft, Tableau and Informatica also lets Salesforce sell data, integration and collaboration around the CRM record.
Questions about Adobe vs Salesforce
Which company has higher revenue — Adobe Inc. or Salesforce, Inc.?
Adobe Inc. reported $23.8B (FY2025), while Salesforce, Inc. reported $41.5B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Salesforce, Inc. is the larger business, with Adobe Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Adobe Inc. vs Salesforce, Inc.?
Adobe Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $93.0B, while Salesforce, Inc.'s is $185.4B. Salesforce, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Adobe Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Adobe Inc. or Salesforce, Inc.?
Adobe Inc. generates $758k / employee in revenue per employee, while Salesforce, Inc. generates $498k / employee. Adobe Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Adobe Inc. and Salesforce, Inc. make money?
Adobe Inc. and Salesforce, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Adobe Inc.: Adobe earns most of its revenue from subscriptions. Salesforce, Inc.: Salesforce sells multi-year software subscriptions, mostly priced per user per month, plus consumption pricing for Data 360 and Agentforce.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Adobe Inc. or Salesforce, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Adobe Inc. trades at 3.9x P/S and Salesforce, Inc. at 4.5x P/S. Salesforce, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Adobe Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Adobe Inc. bigger than Salesforce, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Salesforce, Inc. ($41.5B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Adobe Inc. ($23.8B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Adobe vs Salesforce overview