## Salesforce Exceeds Wall Street Expectations, Shares Surge
Salesforce shares experienced a 6% boost in extended trading on Wednesday following the announcement of the company’s quarterly results and guidance, which exceeded Wall Street’s projections.
According to Refinitiv, the cloud software company’s earnings were reported at $2.12 per share, adjusted, as opposed to the $1.90 per share anticipated by analysts. Revenue was also higher than expected, reaching $8.60 billion against a forecast of $8.53 billion.
## Revenue and Net Income Increase
In the fiscal second quarter, Salesforce’s revenue saw an 11% increase from the same period the previous year, as stated in a company [press release](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230830143308/en/). The net income also rose significantly to $1.27 billion, or $1.28 per share, up from $68 million, or 7 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
For the upcoming quarter, Salesforce is predicting $2.05 to $2.06 in adjusted earnings per share on $8.7 billion to $8.72 billion in revenue. These figures surpass the expectations of analysts polled by Refinitiv, who had forecast adjusted earnings of $1.83 per share and $8.66 billion in sales.
## Growth in All Product Categories
The company saw growth across all five of its product categories. CEO Marc Benioff stated that he anticipates further expansion through the integration of artificial intelligence, asserting, “We’re leading our customers into the new AI era.”
Salesforce also enhanced its full-year forecast. The company now anticipates $8.04 to $8.06 in adjusted earnings per share on $34.7 billion to $34.8 billion in revenue, which would represent an 11% revenue growth. This exceeds Refinitiv analyst predictions of $7.45 per share in profit and $34.65 billion in revenue. Just [three months ago](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/31/salesforce-crm-earnings-q1-earnings-report-2024.html), the company’s guidance was $7.41 to $7.43 in adjusted earnings per share and $34.5 billion to $34.7 billion in revenue, suggesting a 10% revenue growth.
## AI Enhancements and Investments
During the quarter, Salesforce [announced](https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/sales-gpt-service-gpt-ga/) AI enhancements to its Sales Cloud and Service Cloud applications, available for an additional $50 per person per month. The company also [unveiled](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230612576589/en/) an AI Cloud encompassing tools for marketing and data analysis.
Salesforce shares have risen 62% this year, outperforming the S&P 500 index, which gained about 18% in the same period. Company executives plan to discuss these results with analysts on a conference call at 5 p.m. ET.
Please stay tuned for updates on this breaking news.
Watch Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff discuss the A.I. ‘trust layer’ and its role in data security [here](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/06/12/salesforce-ceo-marc-benioff-the-ai-trust-layer-will-anaonamize-data-to-add-a-level-of-security.html).
Original Story at www.cnbc.com – 2023-08-30 20:23:48