Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce Inc., during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Salesforce shares slipped 3% in extended trading on Wednesday after the customer service software maker reported healthy results and boosted its long-range revenue goal, although its fiscal 2027 revenue view trailed Wall Street projections.
Here’s how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: $3.81 adjusted vs. $3.04 expected
- Revenue: $11.20 billion vs. $11.18 billion expected
Salesforce’s revenue grew 12% year over year in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on Jan. 31, according to a statement. It’s the company’s fastest growth rate in two years.
The company said it has allocated $50 billion for new share buybacks.
Net income of $1.94 billion, or $2.07 per share, increased from $1.71 billion, or $1.75 per share. Adjusted earnings per share excludes stock-based compensation expense, amortization of purchased intangible assets and restructuring costs.
Current remaining performance obligation, a sum of contracted but unrecognized revenue and unbilled amounts that will be recognized as revenue over the next year, came in at $35.1 billion. The figure was higher than StreetAccount’s $34.53 billion consensus.
Guidance for the fiscal first quarter included $3.11 to $3.13 in adjusted earnings per share on $11.03 billion to $11.08 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for $3.00 per share and $10.99 billion in revenue.
For 2027 fiscal year, Salesforce called for $13.11 to $13.19 in adjusted earnings per share on $45.8 billion to $46.2 billion in revenue, which implies 10 to 11% growth. The LSEG consensus had $13.12 per share on $46.06 billion in revenue.
The company now sees $63 billion in fiscal 2030 revenue, up from a target of over $60 billion it presented in October. Analysts polled by LSEG had been looking for $59.07 billion.
As of Thursday’s close, Salesforce shares had fallen about 28% so far in 2026, while the S&P 500 index had gained 1%.
In recent weeks, investors have become increasingly worried that generative artificial intelligence models might dampen major software companies’ growth opportunities.
On Monday, IBM stock dropped 13% in its worst daily performance since 2000 after Anthropic published a blog post saying its Claude Code AI tool for developers can assist with modernizing code written in the Cobol programming language.
During the quarter, Salesforce released an AI-enabled Slackbot assistant in its Slack team communication app for paying clients. The company also completed its $8 billion Informatica acquisition and announced plans to buy marketing company Qualified. Informatica contributed $399 million in revenue during the quarter.
Salesforce has been working to expand adoption of its Agentforce AI technology for automating customer service and other corporate functions.
The company said annualized Agentforce revenue exceeded $800 million in the quarter.
Morgan Stanley analysts, with the equivalent of a buy rating on Salesforce stock, said in a Monday note to clients that conversations with partners “continue to indicate we are in the early innings.”
Executives will discuss the results on an “earnings show” conference call, alongside CEOs of SharkNinja and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, starting at 5 p.m. ET.
WATCH: Investors are paying less and less for software earnings these days, says Jim Cramer
Read the original article here