Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, graphics and publishing software specialist Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Adobe's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Adobe facts

Headquarters (founded) San Jose, Calif. (1982)
Market Cap $14.76 billion
Industry Application software
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $3.55 billion
Management

CEO Shantanu Narayen (since 2007)

CFO Mark Garrett (since 2007)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 14.3%
Cash/Debt $2.58 billion / $1.52 billion
Competitors

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 2,059 members who have rated Adobe believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Stars Lituus and TSIF, both of whom are ranked in the top 10% of our community.

Just last month, Lituus decided to pounce on Adobe's recent stock slide: "Oh this is such a good company and it is now so cheap I just could not resist! Nearly all valuation metrics look solid relative to the industry and I am not too worried about the rev/earnings warnings; my thought is that this is a short term overreaction."

While Adobe's Flash application faces some obvious headwinds -- namely, the emergence of Microsoft's Silverlight and Apple's well-documented freeze-out -- the company's valuation is too attractive for many Fools to ignore. Although the stock has recovered nearly half of the 20% drubbing it took in late September, it still trades at a cheapish forward P/E of 14.

CAPS All-Star TSIF elaborates:

Analysts were forced to cut estimates, but most still carry Adobe well above the current market sentiment. Adobe's flagship product Creative Software, fresh in a new release is showing declining market growth and analysts are mixed on whether this is a temporary or long term trend. At about a billion a quarter in forecasted revenue, Adobe is still looking to book an EPS of over $2 per share annually. ... In good times Adobe Systems bought back shares. In the recent bad times they have been building cash. Debt also grew, but I believe Adobe will remain a cash flow machine and will find something to spike growth.

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