Salesforce Wows Investors With Solid Earnings and Guidance

Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Wednesday. The company had $0.19 in earnings per share (EPS) on $1.81 billion in revenue compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.19 in EPS on $1.79 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.14 in EPS on $1.44 billion in revenue.

Revenues in the fourth quarter increased by 25% year over year, and an increase of 27% in constant currency. Deferred revenue on the balance sheet at the end of January totaled $4.29 billion, an increase of 29% year over year, and 31% in constant currency. Unbilled deferred revenue, representing business that is contracted but unbilled and off balance sheet, ended the fourth quarter at roughly $7.1 billion, up 25% from last year.

In terms of first quarter guidance the company expects to have EPS in the range of $0.23 to $0.24 on revenue in the range of $1.885 billion to $1.895 billion. There are consensus estimates that call for $0.21 in EPS on $1.86 billion in revenue.

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Cash generated from operations in this quarter was $459 million, an increase of 38% year over year. Cash generated from operations for the full fiscal year 2016 was $1.61 billion, an increase of 37% from last year. Total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $2.73 billion at the end of the quarter.

Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, commented on earnings:

By any measure, this was a spectacular finish to the year with 27% revenue growth in constant currency for the fourth quarter, and for the full year. We are raising our fiscal year 2017 revenue guidance to $8.12 billion at the high end of our range — unprecedented growth for a company of our size and scale.

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Keith Block, vice chairman, president and COO of Salesforce, added:

We hit an all-time high in large transactions in fiscal 2016 as more and more companies look to Salesforce as their trusted advisor. The tremendous response to our customer success platform is driving exceptional growth for Salesforce across every region, every cloud and every industry.

Shares of Salesforce closed Wednesday at $62.52, with a consensus analyst price target of $88.04 and a 52-week trading range of $52.60 to $82.90. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was up 7% at $67.00 in the after-hours trading session.