The cloud software company reported $11.1 billion in first-quarter revenue, but its full-year outlook landed just below Wall Street expectations
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Salesforce $CRM on Wednesday posted record first-quarter revenue of $11.1 billion, up 13% year-over-year and ahead of what analysts had projected. But after-hours trading was muted as full-year guidance came in a touch below what Wall Street had anticipated.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.88. Analysts had expected $3.12 per share, according to CNBC. Compared with $1.54 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the same period last year, quarterly net income climbed to $2.11 billion, equivalent to $2.42 per share. Operating cash flow reached $6.7 billion, up 3% year over year.
Looking ahead to the current quarter, the company projected revenue in a range of $11.27 billion to $11.35 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of $3.25 to $3.27. The consensus forecast, according to CNBC, had called for $11.36 billion in revenue alongside $3.25 per share in adjusted earnings. The company raised the midpoint of its full-year revenue guidance to $45.9 billion to $46.2 billion, implying roughly 11% growth. Analysts had expected $46.12 billion.
On a earnings call, Robin Washington, Salesforce's president, COO, and CFO, cited three drags on the outlook, according to CNBC: persistent softness in marketing and commerce, deteriorating trends in Tableau bookings and renewals, and elevated license revenue swings stemming from the Informatica deal.
On the AI side, Salesforce said annualized revenue from its Agentforce platform reached $1.2 billion, up 205% year over year, surpassing $1 billion for the first time. Combined Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.4 billion, up more than 200% year over year, the company said. Salesforce also reported that 3.8 billion Agentic Work Units — discrete tasks executed by AI agents — had been delivered to date, growing 111% quarter over quarter.
Revenue from subscriptions and support tied to Agentforce applications — spanning sales, service, marketing, commerce, and Slack $WORK — came in at $6.91 billion, a gain of roughly 9% versus the prior-year period. The Data 360, headless platform, and related subscription and support segment grew to $3.68 billion, a 25% increase, of which $428 million was attributable to Informatica — a data management firm Salesforce purchased for $9.6 billion last November.
Salesforce also entered into a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase agreement during the quarter, with an upfront delivery of 103 million shares. The company returned $27.5 billion to shareholders in total, including $27.1 billion in repurchases and $365 million in dividends.
Marc Benioff, Salesforce's chair and CEO, called the quarter outstanding. "Agentic AI is the biggest growth opportunity for our customers, and for Salesforce," Benioff said in a statement.
Through Wednesday's close, Salesforce had shed roughly 33% of its value year to date, a stark contrast to the S&P 500's approximate 10% gain over the same stretch.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
