Salesforce tops estimates; slides on weak Q3 outlook

Cloud computing company Salesforce.com (CRM) reported a 550% jump in earnings for the second quarter helped by gains on strategic investments. The top and bottom lines exceeded analysts’ expectations and the company raised its full-year 2019 guidance. The stock, which hit an all-time high today, is down about 1% in the extended hours after its third-quarter forecast fell below consensus.

Net income increased six times to $299 million or $0.39 per share. Excluding special items, earnings per share almost doubled to $0.71.

Revenue surged 27% year-over-year to $3.3 billion, due to benefits from clouds, industry segments, and geographies. Unearned revenue on the balance sheet as of July 31, 2018, increased 24% to $5.88 billion.

Looking into the third quarter of 2019, Salesforce expects profit in the range of $0.01 to $0.02 per share and adjusted earnings in the range of $0.49 to $0.50 per share. Revenues are anticipated to be in the range of $3.355 billion to $3.365 billion.

For the fiscal year 2019, the company raised its revenue outlook to a range of $13.125 billion to $13.175 billion from the prior estimate of $13.075 billion to $13.125 billion. GAAP EPS is now expected to be in the range of $0.97 to $0.99 and non-GAAP EPS is now predicted to be $2.50 to $2.52.

Salesforce’s all cloud service offerings contributed to its earnings, growing double digits, with Salesforce Platform reporting the highest growth of 54%. Subscription and support revenue saw a jump of 28%, surpassing projections.

Geographically, the Americas, which contributes 71% to the company’s revenue, jumped 25%, with Europe posting the highest growth of 35% for the quarter.

Shares of Salesforce ended Wednesday’s regular trading session up 1.18% at $154.80 on the NYSE. The stock had risen more than 64% for the past year.