Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) will get its chance to impress investors this afternoon when it reports its first quarter numbers following the market close.

Going into this afternoon's earnings release, the company is expected to show earnings of 44 cents per share for its quarter ending February 27. For the same period last year, the company reported that it had earned 48 cents per share, so we are looking at the company possibly seeing an 8.3% year over year earnings decline.

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE), whose tech colleagues include Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), reported earnings for Q4 and the full fiscal year on Tuesday after the bell. The market liked what it saw, sending the shares higher by over 12% in the after-hours trading session.

The numbers do look good. On an adjusted basis, Q4 earnings were $0.60 per share, two pennies better than what Wall Street was expecting. It also represented growth of 22%. For the year, adjusted earnings were $2.07 per share, good for a growth rate of over 28%. Revenues for the year took a nice jump of 13%. Unfortunately, revenues for Q4 didn't move much at all, apparently deciding to take a break by remaining flat.

While the quarter and the year looked more than decent for the most part, the question is, where do we go from here? That flat revenue performance for the quarter might be indicative of a tough year ahead. Also, net cash from operations declined 15%. And here's something else I'll throw out at you: even though the market has pepped up as of late, do you think we're out of the woods yet in terms of the economy? I think not.