Adobe ADBE lifted its full-year guidance and said it hit one billion monthly active users, as its profit and revenue rose in the third quarter. The software company’s milestone comes as it increasingly focuses on expanding its “freemium” artificial-intelligence offerings to drive user acquisition and long-term revenue. Freemium monthly active users for the company’s creative products crossed 100 million during the quarter, up more than 70% year-over-year. Adobe also boosted its outlook for the full fiscal year, projecting adjusted earnings between $24.45 and $24.50 a share and revenue between $26.576 billion and $26.626 billion. Total ARR is expected to grow 10.2% year-over-year. Adobe’s third-quarter profit came in at $1.83 billion, or $4.62 a share, compared with a profit of $1.77 billion, or $4.18 a share, a year earlier. Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings were $6.13 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $6.08 a share. Shares dropped 2.3% to $243.08 in after-hours trading.

On Thursday, the SMI slipped 0.5 percent to 13,740 points. The downward trend in Switzerland was limited by gains from defensive blue-chip stocks. Nestlé closed just slightly higher, while Novartis rebounded from its recent 0.4 percent drop. Among other developments, HSBC upgraded the stock to “Hold” from “Reduce.” In addition, following recent setbacks in the search for medical candidates, a major shareholder called for action. “I don’t consider this board to be particularly competent when it comes to overseeing the company,” Artisan Partners fund manager David Samra told Reuters. He criticized the company’s lackluster track record in acquisitions, its use of capital, and the compensation model for management. Board Chairman Giovanni Caforio must implement changes in management, he said. Roche dropped 0.6 percent within the sector, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted a drug candidate priority review status. Insurance stocks benefited from rising market interest rates: Swiss Re climbed 0.7 percent. Zurich Insurance and Swiss Life remained largely unchanged, demonstrating relative strength. Following an upgrade by Jefferies, Adecco added 0.9 percent. After U.S. competitor Cooper lowered its forecast, Alcon gave up 2.5 percent.

Europe
European stock markets pulled back on Thursday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index dipped 0.7% to 635.97 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each fell 0.5%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 ended the day down 0.8%, while the FTSE 100 closed 0.6% lower on the London Stock Exchange. While it came as no surprise that the ECB raised its key interest rates by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points)—including the deposit rate, which rose to 2.5%—this decision was accompanied by a tone and new economic forecasts deemed restrictive. NEXANS (+0.5%): The cable manufacturer announced Wednesday evening that it had issued €500 million in bonds maturing in five years with a coupon rate of 4.25%. This bond issue will be used to refinance the 500 million euro bridge loan, which had been arranged to finance the acquisition of Republic Wire, the U.S. manufacturer of copper and aluminum wire products. TOTALENERGIES (+0.2%): The energy company confirmed Thursday having made a new hydrocarbon discovery in Angola, where it plans to continue its deepwater exploration activities under new licenses. TotalEnergies made this discovery in offshore Block 17, in which it holds a 38% stake.

United States
U.S. stocks fell for the fourth straight session and Treasury yields hit multiyear highs as U.S. oil prices topped the $100-per-barrel level, while August inflation data revealed the toll energy costs are taking on commercial users. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 316.56 points, or 0.60%, to 52064.10. The S&P 500 gave up 44.66 points, or 0.58%, to 7591.70 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 171.62 points, or 0.65%, to 26081.72. Shares of the home builders retreated after weak housing data showed the toll that rising mortgage rates are taking. Used-home sales fell 2% in July to an annualized rate of 3.98 million. Lennar LEN shares fell 3.5% at $77.90. Shares of Macy’s M slid 4.7% to $20.50 even after the department store chain raised its sales growth projection for a second time this year after recording growth across its brands. Designer Brands DBI, owner of shoe store DSW, raised its full-year sales outlook, citing a strong start to the current quarter. Apple shares rose 3.6% to $326.57 after analyst Gene Munster, a co-founder of Deepwater Asset Management, said design merits of the new foldable iPhone Duo could generate higher-than-anticipated demand for the device. Shares of Apple supplier Skyworks SWKS soared 10% to $84.03.

Asia
Stocks in Asia mostly fell on Friday. The Seoul stock market is plummeting 2.5 percent. In Tokyo, the Topix is down 0.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite shed 1.8 percent, and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gave up 0.9 percent. Brent crude is trading at $108.45, up 0.8 percent from late Thursday. In Seoul, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics each lost about 4 percent; in Tokyo, Kioxia plunged 8.1 percent and Advantest declined by 7.8 percent. SoftBank lost 4.8 percent. There was a spectacular stock market debut in Shanghai. The stock price of Tencent-backed Shanghai Enflame Technology soared by nearly 180 percent compared to its offering price. The company manufactures high-end chips, accelerator cards, and software for artificial intelligence (AI) and is thus seen as a Chinese alternative to Nvidia. Tencent shares added 1.0 percent in Hong Kong.

Bonds
Due to higher inflation readings, U.S. government debt yields edged higher again on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year bond rose 0.075 percentage point to 5.360%, the highest close since June 2004. The yield on the 10-year Treasury added 0.104 percentage point to 4.943% for its biggest gain since May and its highest close since October 2023. The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury rose 0.122 percentage point to 4.548%. Currently, the interest rate futures market is pricing in a 72 percent probability of an interest rate hike.

Analysis
Vontobel lowers Partners Group to 860 (940) CHF - Buy
Berenberg reduces Burkhalter to 134 (145) CHF - Hold
Bachem price target: JPMorgan raises to 90 (85) CHF - Overweight
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