Adobe Shares Sink 7% as Insider Chakravarthy Named CEO and Top Creative Executive Wadhwani Exits

Adobe named Anil Chakravarthy as its next president and chief executive officer, effective December 1, 2026, the start of the company's fiscal 2027. Chakravarthy, who has led Adobe's Customer Experience Orchestration business for roughly six and a half years at the company, succeeds Shantanu Narayen, who has helmed Adobe for more than 18 years and will move to the role of executive chair. The announcement, made after Thursday's market close, sent shares down as much as 7% on Friday.

The leadership change is compounded by the simultaneous departure of David Wadhwani, president of Adobe's creativity and productivity business, which accounts for roughly three-quarters of the company's total revenue. Wall Street greeted both moves with notable unease, with Barron's and others noting that an inside hire arriving days before a scheduled earnings report did little to reassure investors already concerned about AI-driven competition from tools like Canva and other upstarts.

Stifel reiterated its Hold rating on Adobe as the CEO transition was announced. RBC, which had recently raised its price target ahead of what it described as an in-line quarter on the grounds that Adobe's peers had become more expensive, said the new CEO appointment could lead to fresh strategic messaging around the Experience Cloud business. Adobe shares had already lost 25% in 2024, 21% in 2025, and were down roughly 18% in 2026 before Friday's additional decline, reflecting the sustained pressure the stock has faced amid questions about AI monetization.