Sifting through countless of stocks in the Software industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Adobe Inc. or Gen Digital Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc.

Adobe Inc. operates as a technology company worldwide. The Digital Media segment offers products and services that enable individuals, teams, and enterprises to create, publish, and promote content. This segment serves photographers, video editors, graphic and experience designers, game developers, content creators, students, marketers, business owners, knowledge workers, and consumers. The Digital Experience segment provides an integrated platform; and products, services, and solutions that enable brands and businesses to create, manage, execute, measure, monetize, and optimize customer experiences from analytics to commerce. This segment serves marketers, advertisers, agencies, publishers, merchandisers, merchants, web analysts, data scientists, developers, and executives across the C-suite. The Publishing and Advertising segment offers e-learning, technical document publishing, web conferencing, document and forms platform, web application development, printing, and Adobe Advertising solutions. It also provides consulting, training, customer management, technical support, and learning services. The company offers its solutions to enterprise customers, and businesses and consumers; and licenses its products to end-user customers through app stores and website at adobe.com. It markets and distributes its products through distributors, retailers, software developers, mobile app stores, systems integrators, independent software vendors, value-added resellers, and original equipment and hardware manufacturers. The company also provides an online visibility management and content marketing software-as-a-service platform. The company has a strategic alliance with HUMAIN for the development of generative AI models and AI-powered applications. The company was formerly known as Adobe Systems Incorporated and changed its name to Adobe Inc. in October 2018. Adobe Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Gen Digital Inc. engages in the provision of cyber safety and trust-based solutions for individuals, families, and small businesses. The company offers security and performance management, identity protection, and online privacy, as well as technology platforms. It also provides restoration support services, digital reputation, and secure financial wellness. The company offers its products under the Norton, Avast, LifeLock, MoneyLion, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender, and CCleaner brands. The company was formerly known as NortonLifeLock Inc. and changed its name to Gen Digital Inc. in November 2022. Gen Digital Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Latest Software and Adobe Inc., Gen Digital Inc. Stock News

As of September 4, 2026, Adobe Inc. had a $105.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Software median of $1.1 million. Adobe Inc.’s stock is down 23.9% in 2026, down 8.6% in the previous five trading days and down 22.6% in the past year.

Currently, Adobe Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 15.2. Adobe Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $25.2 billion with a 28.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 12.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $24.411 per share for the current fiscal year. Adobe Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 4, 2026, Gen Digital Inc. had a $18.3 billion market cap, putting it in the 85th percentile of all stocks. Gen Digital Inc.’s stock is up 12.7% in 2026, down 1.2% in the previous five trading days and up 3.79% in the past year.

Currently, Gen Digital Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 17.9. Gen Digital Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $5.1 billion with a 20.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 6.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.923 per share for the current fiscal year. Gen Digital Inc. currently has a 1.6% dividend yield.

How We Compare Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Adobe Inc.	ADBE	C
Gen Digital Inc.	GEN	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Adobe Inc. has a Value Score of 47, which is Average. Gen Digital Inc. has a Value Score of 47, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Adobe Inc. or Gen Digital Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Adobe Inc. or Gen Digital Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Adobe Inc.	ADBE	D
Gen Digital Inc.	GEN	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Adobe Inc. has a Momentum Score of 29, which is Weak. Gen Digital Inc. has a Momentum Score of 56, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Adobe Inc. or Gen Digital Inc. has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Adobe Inc. or Gen Digital Inc. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Adobe Inc.	ADBE	B
Gen Digital Inc.	GEN	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Adobe Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 65, which is Positive. Gen Digital Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 69, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, both Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc. have a grade of B. For those focusing solely on a company’s estimate revisions, other financial metrics will need to be evaluated to determine whether Adobe Inc. or Gen Digital Inc. is a better fit.

Other Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc. Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Quality.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Adobe Inc. or Gen Digital Inc. Stock?

Overall, Adobe Inc. stock has a Value Score of 47, Momentum Score of 29 and Estimate Revisions Score of 65.

Gen Digital Inc. stock has a Value Score of 47, Momentum Score of 56 and Estimate Revisions Score of 69.

Comparing Adobe Inc. and Gen Digital Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.