Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) wowed the market on Tuesday afternoon, reporting a first-quarter revenue beat and issuing second-quarter guidance that exceeded expectations. Analysts say Salesforce’s big quarter is another sign that the company’s cloud business is firing on all cylinders.
Salesforce stock was up more than 5 percent Wednesday in pre-market trading.
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Salesforce reported adjusted first-quarter earnings per share of 74 cents. First quarter revenue was $3.01 billion compared to analyst expectations of $2.95 billion. Revenue was up 25 percent from a year ago.
Salesforce reported cash from operations of $1.47 billion, up 19 percent. Unearned revenue, excluding MuleSoft, was $6.20 billion, up 25 percent. Salesforce acquired MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in March.
Remaining transaction price, a measure of future revenues that are under contract but have not yet been recognized, was $20.4 billion as of the end of the quarter, up 36 percent from a year ago.
“Salesforce delivered more than $3 billion in revenue in the first quarter, surpassing a $12 billion annual revenue run rate,” CEO Marc Benioff says in a statement. “Our relentless focus on customer success is yielding incredible results, including delivering nearly two billion AI predictions per day with Einstein.”
Looking ahead, Salesforce guided for second-quarter revenue of between $3.22 billion and $3.23 billion, ahead of consensus estimates of $3.11 billion. Salesforce also expects adjusted EPS of between 46 and 47 cents.
After raising its full-year revenue guidance by $150 million last quarter, Salesforce once again raised full-year guidance by $47.5 million to a new range of between $13.08 billion and $13.13 billion. Salesforce is expecting full-year adjusted EPS of between $2.29 and $2.31.
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GBH Insights head of technology research Daniel Ives says there’s plenty for investors to like about Salesforce’s quarter.
“This was another earnings gem that Salesforce delivered and speaks to the massive cloud computing tailwinds the company has heading into the next 12 to 18 months,” Ives says. “Both organically and through acquisitions, Benioff is building a cloud behemoth that is gaining more momentum in the field as evidenced again this quarter.”
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Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM) Revenue, Guidance Impresses Wall Street originally appeared on usnews.com
