Adobe (STU:ADB) Beneish M-Score: -2.86 (As of Jun. 24, 2026)


STU:ADB Adobe Inc STU:ADB
86 GF Score
Price €173.48
GF Value €523.52
Valuation Significantly Undervalued
! 1 Warning Sign
View Full Analysis

What is Adobe Beneish M-Score?

Adobe STU:ADB +1.95% 86 Beneish M-Score is -2.86 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus rates STU:ADB with a GF Score™ of 86/100 and a GF Value™ of €523.52 (Significantly Undervalued). The stock has 1 warning sign investors should review. Among 2,633 Software companies, Adobe ranks better than 70.95% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.86 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Adobe's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

STU:ADB' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -3.01   Med: -2.69   Max: -2.43
Current: -2.86

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Adobe was -2.43. The lowest was -3.01. And the median was -2.69.


Adobe Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Adobe's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Adobe Beneish M-Score Chart

Adobe Annual Data
Trend Nov16 Nov17 Nov18 Nov19 Nov20 Nov21 Nov22 Nov23 Nov24 Nov25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.60 -2.95 -2.70 -2.83 -2.86

Adobe Quarterly Data
Aug21 Nov21 Feb22 May22 Aug22 Nov22 Feb23 May23 Aug23 Nov23 Feb24 May24 Aug24 Nov24 Feb25 May25 Aug25 Nov25 Feb26 May26
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.90 -2.83 -2.86 -2.96 -2.86

STU:ADB vs CDNS, INTU, ADP: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Software - Application subindustry, Adobe's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Adobe Beneish M-Score vs Software Industry

For the Software industry and Technology sector, Adobe's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Adobe's Beneish M-Score falls into.


STU:ADB
86GF Score
Adobe Inc STU:ADB
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

Adobe Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Adobe for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.0727+0.528 * 0.9982+0.404 * 1.0339+0.892 * 1.0335+0.115 * 1.1319
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 1.0311+4.679 * -0.10925-0.327 * 1.0406
=-2.89

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (May26) TTM:Last Year (May25) TTM:
Total Receivables was €1,706 Mil.
Revenue was 5665.008 + 5412.708 + 5357.81 + 5143.692 = €21,579 Mil.
Gross Profit was 5052.968 + 4850.964 + 4796.425 + 4592.214 = €19,293 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €7,762 Mil.
Total Assets was €25,623 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €1,857 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €650 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €7,534 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €10,339 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €4,392 Mil.
Net Income was 1465.472 + 1598.094 + 1605.44 + 1522.148 = €6,191 Mil.
Non Operating Income was 55.64 + 56.682 + -168.675 + 69.579 = €13 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 1853.24 + 2502.468 + 2733.4 + 1888.082 = €8,977 Mil.
Total Receivables was €1,539 Mil.
Revenue was 5209.351 + 5485.44 + 5280.852 + 4905.056 = €20,881 Mil.
Gross Profit was 4643.445 + 4888.32 + 4700.58 + 4402.578 = €18,635 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €7,963 Mil.
Total Assets was €24,931 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €1,906 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €792 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €7,071 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €8,018 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €5,756 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(1706.008 / 21579.218) / (1538.945 / 20880.699)
=0.079058 / 0.073702
=1.0727

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(18634.923 / 20880.699) / (19292.571 / 21579.218)
=0.892447 / 0.894035
=0.9982

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (7762.208 + 1856.664) / 25622.648) / (1 - (7963.486 + 1906.163) / 24930.909)
=0.624595 / 0.60412
=1.0339

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=21579.218 / 20880.699
=1.0335

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(792.25 / (792.25 + 1906.163)) / (650.244 / (650.244 + 1856.664))
=0.293598 / 0.259381
=1.1319

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(7534.004 / 21579.218) / (7070.524 / 20880.699)
=0.349132 / 0.338615
=1.0311

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((4392.136 + 10338.768) / 25622.648) / ((5755.743 + 8017.593) / 24930.909)
=0.574917 / 0.55246
=1.0406

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(6191.154 - 13.226 - 8977.19) / 25622.648
=-0.10925

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Adobe has a M-score of -2.89 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.86 mean?
Adobe (STU:ADB) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.86 as of Jun. 24, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Adobe and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, Adobe ranks #765 out of 2633 companies in the Software industry, placing it in the top 29.1%.
Is Adobe's Beneish M-Score too high?
Adobe's current Beneish M-Score is -2.86. Based on the distribution chart, Adobe ranks #765 out of 2633 companies in the Software industry, which is above the industry midpoint. Overall, Adobe has a GF Score™ of 86/100 and is considered Significantly Undervalued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Adobe's Beneish M-Score compare to CDNS and INTU?
According to the Software industry distribution chart, Adobe ranks #765 out of 2633 companies for Beneish M-Score. This puts Adobe in the upper half of its industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Software company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Software industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Adobe and its competitors. Adobe's current Beneish M-Score is -2.86. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Adobe stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Adobe (STU:ADB) is currently considered Significantly Undervalued. The stock's GF Value™ is €523.52, compared to a current price of €173.48 — trading 66.9% below its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.86. Adobe's overall GF Score™ is 86/100 with 1 warning sign to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Adobe (STU:ADB), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.86 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Adobe (STU:ADB) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Adobe stock appears to be undervalued. The current stock price of €173.48 is trading 66.9% below its estimated GF Value™ of €523.52. GuruFocus considers Adobe to be Significantly Undervalued.

Key valuation signals for STU:ADB:

  • Beneish M-Score: -2.86
  • GF Value™: €523.52 vs. price of €173.48 (66.9% below fair value)
  • GF Score™: 86/100 with 1 warning sign

No single metric tells the full story. See the STU:ADB stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Adobe Business Description

Address 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA, USA, 95110-2704
Adobe provides content creation, document management, and digital marketing and advertising software and services to creative professionals and marketers for creating, managing, delivering, measuring, optimizing, and engaging with compelling content multiple operating systems, devices, and media. The company operates with three segments: digital media content creation, digital experience for marketing solutions, and publishing for legacy products (less than 5% of revenue).
86GF Score

Get the complete analysis for STU:ADB

Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

€173.48
Price
€523.52
GF Value