ADBE NASDAQ Security breach

Adobe

Adobe disclosed unauthorized access to customer information and source code for multiple products, followed by a broad password reset.

1 month vs SPY +1.8 pp Above SPY

+6.0% ADBE vs +4.2% SPY

DisclosureOct 3, 2013 · time unknown
Company’s roleDirect victim
Available data12 months complete
Share typeCommon stock · ADBE

This site shows how share prices moved after an incident became public. It does not prove that the incident caused the move. Company news, sector moves and the wider market can affect every result. Educational only — not investment advice.

Disclosure timing

When could the market react?

The baseline is the last adjusted close before the news was public. The reaction session is the first close afterward.

  1. 01Baseline sessionOct 2, 2013

    Normalized to 100 for both ADBE and SPY.

  2. 02Public disclosureOct 3, 2013 · time unknown

    Publication time is not documented; lower timing precision.

  3. 03First reaction closeOct 3, 2013

    -1.2% company total return versus -0.9% for SPY; -0.3 pp market-relative return.

Disclosure time is unknown; the previous session close is used as baseline.

Time windows

Company vs SPY

Each row uses the last trading session on or before its target date. “Market-relative” is the company return minus the SPY return, in percentage points.

Returns measured from the shared baseline session
WindowEndpointADBESPYMarket-relativeSignal
First reaction Oct 3, 2013 -1.2% -0.9% -0.3 pp Below SPY
+7 days Oct 10, 2013 -0.7% -0.0% -0.7 pp Below SPY
+1 month Nov 1, 2013 +6.0% +4.2% +1.8 pp Above SPY
+3 months Jan 3, 2014 +14.8% +8.7% +6.1 pp Above SPY
+6 months Apr 3, 2014 +21.2% +12.6% +8.6 pp Above SPY
+12 months Oct 3, 2014 +32.8% +18.4% +14.3 pp Above SPY
Compare with current catalog aggregates
WindowThis caseCatalog medianCatalog meann
First reaction-0.3 pp-0.8 pp-1.5 pp30
+7 days-0.7 pp-2.0 pp-4.0 pp30
+1 month+1.8 pp-6.6 pp-6.8 pp30
+3 months+6.1 pp-5.1 pp-6.6 pp30
+6 months+8.6 pp-5.6 pp-7.5 pp30
+12 months+14.3 pp-3.7 pp-10.1 pp30

Normalized total return

ADBE compared with SPY

Baseline session = 100. Adjusted close reflects splits and reinvested distributions.

Adobe had +32.8% company total return versus +18.4% for SPY; +14.3 pp market-relative return. The chart shows normalized adjusted-close performance for up to 24 months.

View tabular chart fallback
Representative normalized chart points, sampled approximately monthly
DateADBESPY
Oct 2, 2013100.0100.0
Oct 31, 2013105.2103.9
Dec 2, 2013110.2106.7
Jan 2, 2014115.1108.7
Feb 3, 2014112.8103.5
Mar 5, 2014133.7111.6
Apr 3, 2014121.2112.6
May 5, 2014119.3112.5
Jun 4, 2014124.6115.3
Jul 3, 2014142.8118.9
Aug 4, 2014133.5116.3
Sep 3, 2014140.6120.3
Oct 2, 2014130.2117.1
Oct 31, 2014136.1121.5
Dec 2, 2014142.6124.8
Jan 2, 2015140.4124.5
Feb 3, 2015139.6124.1
Mar 5, 2015152.6127.5
Apr 6, 2015148.0126.5
May 5, 2015145.6127.1
Jun 4, 2015152.9127.9
Jul 6, 2015156.3126.4
Aug 4, 2015159.3128.1
Sep 2, 2015149.9119.5
Oct 2, 2015163.0119.9

Price recovery

Recovered

Here, recovery only means that adjusted close reached the baseline again. It does not mean every effect of the incident ended.

State
Recovered
Initial trough
-4.0% on Oct 9, 2013
Recovery close
Oct 4, 2013
Calendar days
1
Observation cap
24 months after disclosure

Hypothetical $1,000

What would $1,000 have looked like?

Compare $1,000 in ADBE with $1,000 in SPY, bought and measured on the same dates.

ADBE value $1,190 Adobe
SPY value $1,112 US market benchmark
Difference vs SPY $78 Observed result

Entry Oct 7, 2013 Exit Apr 7, 2014

Uses fractional shares and adjusted close. Leaves out taxes, fees and slippage. The holding period starts on the purchase date. This is a historical illustration, not an investment strategy.

Case note

Adobe said attackers had accessed customer IDs, encrypted passwords and some payment-related information. It also disclosed illegal access to source code for multiple products and initiated password resets and customer notifications.

The company announcement is the disclosure anchor. Because no dependable publication time is recorded in the source, the methodology conservatively uses the previous session close as the baseline.

Evidence

Sources and case review

We qualify each case before checking its price results. These links support the disclosure date, listing, incident and business impact.

  1. primary Oct 3, 2013
    Important Customer Security Announcement Adobe Supports: Disclosure, Impact, Description
  2. primary Jan 21, 2014
    Adobe fiscal 2013 Form 10-K Adobe / U.S. SEC Supports: Listing, Impact
  3. Listing evidenceChecked Jul 20, 2026
    Adobe issuer record U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC issuer history and the event-period reporting confirm Adobe's Nasdaq listing at disclosure.

Why it is included. Adobe was the direct victim and its security chief publicly documented both customer-data and source-code access, with a quantified initial customer population and company-wide remediation. Reviewed Jul 20, 2026.