How Analysts View Salesforce After Earnings

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
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How Analysts View Salesforce After Earnings

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Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) reported fiscal third-quarter financial results after markets closed last Thursday. Although Salesforce is competing with Oracle, the former outperformed this week as a result of strong earnings. These strong earnings may feed the fire for a potential acquisition and analysts are hiking their price targets.

24/7 Wall St. has compiled a list of what analysts are saying after the earnings report as well as some key highlights from it.

Salesforce posted $0.24 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.14 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters called for $0.21 in EPS and $2.12 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.21 in EPS and $1.71 billion in revenue.

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Deferred revenue totaled $3.50 billion, an increase of 23% year-over-year, and 25% in constant currency.

In terms of guidance for the fiscal fourth-quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $0.24 to $0.25 and revenues in the range of $2.267 billion to $2.277 billion. There are consensus estimates that are calling for $0.25 in EPS and $2.24 billion in revenue.

Cash generated from operations totaled $154 million, a decrease of 5% year-over-year. Total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities finished the quarter at $1.75 billion.

After the report a few analysts weighed in on Salesforce:

  • JMP Securities reiterated a Buy rating.
  • Pacific Crest reiterated a Buy rating with a $95 price target.
  • BTIG reiterated a Buy rating.
  • Goldman Sachs set a Buy rating with a $96 price target.
  • Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $98 from $96.
  • BMO Capital Markets has an Outperform rating but raised its price target to $90 from $86.
  • Mizuho set a Buy rating and jumped its price target to $95 from $85.

Shares of Salesforce closed out the week at $77.77, with a consensus analyst price target of $93.40 and a 52-week trading range of $52.60 to $84.48.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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