SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Adobe Systems Inc. reported a decline in fiscal-first-quarter profit Tuesday, as the design-software maker seeks to rebound from a trying period courtesy of the economic downturn.

However, the results topped Wall Street estimates, and a strong second-quarter profit outlook helped the company’s shares gain ground in late action.

San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe (ADBE 37.05, +1.83, +5.20%) said first-quarter net income fell to $127.2 million, or 24 cents a share, from $156.4 million, or 30 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the period ended in early March rose 9% to $858.7 million.

Excluding special items, Adobe said earnings for the quarter were 40 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected Adobe to post earnings excluding items of 37 cents a share, and $827.4 million in revenue.

“The market trends enabling our diverse business remain strong,” Adobe Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen said in a prepared statement.

Adobe said it expects second-quarter earnings excluding items to be between 39 and 44 cents a share. Analysts have been looking for second-quarter earnings excluding items of 41 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares of Adobe rose 4% to $36.69 in after-hours trading, following the earnings announcement.

Adobe has struggled throughout the economic downturn, and the resulting lack of demand for new software products.

The company released the latest version of its flagship product, Creative Suite 4, just as the downturn was beginning to cut sharply into demand for software in 2008.

Adobe later cut 680 jobs, or 9% of its total workforce, in November of last year.

The first-quarter results included contributions from Omniture, an Internet analytics firm that it acquired last year for $1.8 billion.

John Letzing is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

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