Earnings Preview: Salesforce to stay high in Q3 on cloud power

A research report recently revealed that Salesforce (CRM) has been consistently outperforming its peers in the cloud business, and has found a place among the top performers. After suffering a massive intraday loss earlier this week, the Silicon Valley firm is all set to report financial results for its most recent quarter on November 27 after the closing bell. Analysts expect earnings to grow 28% annually to $0.50 per share in the third quarter of 2019 when total sales are forecast to rise 26% to $3.3 billion.

The acquisition of MuleSoft earlier this year was a strategic move that will help Salesforce expand its cloud integration platform. With more buyouts in the cards, the company will be giving a tough competition to rivals like Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL) in the coming quarters.

The acquisition of MuleSoft earlier this year was a move that will help Salesforce expand its cloud integration platform

Also, the existing cloud partnerships with Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG) will expedite expansion in the overseas market, which has been a key revenue driver in recent times. However, foreign exchange related headwinds will continue to weigh down on the international operations, like in the past.

Having surpassed Wall Street estimates in all of the four trailing quarters, the company is likely to sustain the positive trend this time too. There is no doubt the management’s ongoing efforts to tackle competition and drive growth through product innovation, aggressive promotional campaigns and broadening the partner network are paying off.

In the second quarter, adjusted earnings nearly doubled to $0.71 per share, owing to a 27% annual growth in revenues, with all the key business segments registering double-digit growth. While reporting the previous results, the company had issued a lower-than-expected earnings outlook for the third quarter.

Salesforce tops estimates; slides on weak Q3 outlook

When Oracle reported its first-quarter results in September, the market was disappointed with the lackluster performance of its cloud segment that resulted in weak top-line growth. However, earnings rose sharply and topped estimates. It was a different story at Microsoft, which posted record first-quarter results on the strength of the cloud business.

The ascent and decline of Salesforce shares in recent months have been in line with the general trend in the tech sector. After reaching a peak in September, the stock entered a downward spiral. It traded lower during Friday’s regular session after closing the previous session up 2%.

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