Adobe down on hat trick

Shares of Adobe Systems fell more than 11 percent today after the company delivered a triple-whammy bombshell yesterday in which it warned that it would fall short of Wall Street's third-quarter earnings expectations, that three of its top executives--including its CFO--had resigned, and that it will impose layoffs of up to 10 percent of its workforce.

Shares of Adobe were trading below the company's 52-week low, closing down 3.4375 at 27.375. The stock has traded as high as 52.99 and as low as 29.75 during the past 52 weeks.

Hit hard by the sluggish economy in Asia, the company said it may post a loss for the quarter, including one-time restructuring charges and expenses. Adobe declined to indicate what its results would be without those charges. Analysts had expected Adobe to report third-quarter earnings of 52 cents a share, according to First Call.

The company's third-quarter revenues are expected to be between $220 million and $225 million, compared with revenues of $230 million posted a year ago. Adobe will report its third-quarter results on September 24.

Adobe also said today that it plans to lay off between 240 and 300 employees and contractors from its worldwide workforce of 3,000. The across-the-board cuts will occur during August, a company spokeswoman said.

However the most dramatic announcement by Adobe today was that P. Jackson Bell, its chief financial officer; Robert Roblin, its executive vice president of marketing; and Ross Bott, its executive vice president of product divisions, all have resigned.

The software maker said it already has established an executive management team to replace the three execs, which in large part will report to chairman and CEO John Warnock.

"These expected results are unacceptable," Warnock said in a statement. "The actions taken today are intended to position the company for long-term growth and improved financial results."

News.com's Sandeep Junnarkar contributed to this report.