Shares of cloud computing giant Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) were up 5% in pre-market trading Friday (May 28) after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its forward guidance.
Salesforce earnings per share for the first quarter came in at $1.21 U.S. compared to 88 cents U.S. per share that was expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv data. The company’s revenue totaled $5.96 billion U.S. versus $5.89 billion U.S. expected by analysts.
Salesforce’s revenue grew 23% year-over-year in the first quarter, following an annualized revenue increase of 20% in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The company’s Platform and Other segment that includes its MuleSoft and Tableau products, currently Salesforce’s top segment for subscription and support revenue, contributed $1.75 billion U.S. in revenue, up 28% from last year.
Salesforce’s core Sales Cloud product that salespeople use to track business opportunities delivered $1.39 billion U.S. in revenue, up 11%.
Regarding its guidance, Salesforce said it sees 91 cents U.S. to 92 cents U.S. in adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings per share on $6.22 billion U.S. to $6.23 billion U.S. in revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv data had been looking for 86 cents U.S. in adjusted earnings per share and $6.15 billion U.S. in revenue.
Salesforce also forecast $3.79 U.S. to $3.81 U.S. in adjusted earnings per share for the full year, with $25.9 billion U.S. to $26.0 billion U.S. in revenue, or 22% growth.
The full-year guidance includes a contribution of $500 million U.S. in revenue from team communication software app Slack, a $27.7 billion U.S. acquisition expected to close at the conclusion of the quarter that ends on July 31.
Salesforce stock was trading at $236.25 in pre-market trading Friday following the quarterly results, up 5% from Thursday’s close of $225.83.
