Earnings Results: Salesforce stock ticks higher after hours on earnings beat, full-year outlook

Salesforce.com Inc. stock advanced in the extended session Tuesday after the customer-relationship-management software company reported that earnings topped Wall Street estimates and raised its outlook for the year. Read More...

Salesforce.com Inc. stock advanced in the extended session Tuesday after the customer-relationship-management software company reported earnings that topped Wall Street estimates and raised its outlook for the year.

Salesforce CRM, +3.94% shares, which had nearly swung to a loss after hours, were last up 3.2% in the extended session, following a 4% rise to close the regular session at $150.92. In comparison, the S&P 500 index SPX, +2.14% closed up 2.1%, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +2.65% rose 2.7%, and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV, +3.41% advanced 3.4% on Tuesday.

On the call, Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s chairman and co-chief executive, updated the company’s long-term revenue forecast to cover the next four years.

“We’re well-positioned to continue on our path to organically double our revenue, again, in the next four years, achieving a revenue target of $26 billion to $28 billion for fiscal year 2023,” Benioff said.

The company reported first-quarter net income of $392 million, or 49 cents a share, compared with $344 million, or 46 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 93 cents a share.

Of the 37 analysts surveyed by FactSet, Salesforce on average was expected to post adjusted earnings of 61 cents a share, compared with the adjusted 74 cents a share reported in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose to $3.74 billion from $3.01 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had forecast revenue of $3.69 billion from Salesforce, according to 33 analysts polled by FactSet.

Salesforce forecast adjusted earnings of 46 cents to 47 cents a share on revenue of $3.94 billion to $3.95 billion for the second quarter, and raised its outlook to earnings of $2.88 to $2.90 a share on revenue of $16.10 billion to $16.25 billion for the year.

Analysts expect earnings of 65 cents a share on revenue of $3.94 billion for the second quarter, and $2.67 a share on revenue of $16.14 billion for the year.

Of the 43 analysts who cover Salesforce, 40 have buy or overweight ratings, three have hold ratings and none have sell or underweight ratings, with an average price target of $182.59, according to FactSet.