Salesforce Beats On Earnings, Raises Guidance

Salesforce.com Inc. reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its full-year revenue guidance Thursday. The cloud-software company reported a net loss of $9.2 million on revenue of $2.39 billion for its fiscal first quarter. After adjustments for stock-based compensation and other effects, the company claimed a profit of 28 cents a share. Analysts on average expected adjusted earnings of 26 cents a share on sales of $2.35 billion. Salesforce also increased its revenue guidance for the full 2018 fiscal year to a range of $10.25 billion to $10.3 billion; previous guidance called for sales of $10.15 billion to $10.2 billion. The company's guidance for profit also increased, with standard earnings now expected to be 6 cents to 8 cents a share for the year, and adjusted earnings of $1.28 to $1.30 a share. Salesforce stock gained more than 2% in immediate after-hours action following the release of the report, but soon fell to a slight loss, after closing with a 0.1% decline at $87.75.