Adobe is making record money but its stock is crashing — bad news for the company and its long-loyal creative users, who may be the ones it ends up replacing.

• Adobe's stock has lost over half its value in the past year even as revenue hit record highs.
• A $150 million government settlement over hard-to-cancel subscriptions and hidden fees wrecked its reputation.
• A failed $20 billion buyout of Figma cost Adobe a $1 billion breakup fee, and its 18-year CEO just stepped down.
• Cheaper, easier rivals like Canva are pulling away casual users with friendlier, freemium tools.
• Adobe's own AI tool, Firefly, automates the skilled design work its paying customers do — training them to realize they may not need Adobe at all.

Outlook: Adobe looks set to push deeper into AI and selling data to businesses, betting that strategy pays off before its frustrated subscribers walk away.