Salesforce lifts annual guidance after Q3 earnings beat expectations; stock jumps

Investing.com -- Salesforce lifted its annual guidance on Wednesday after reporting third-quarter earnings that topped expectations as margins jumped amid ongoing efforts to improve efficiency boosted performance.  

Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) gained 7% in after-hours trade following the report.

Salesforce.com reported adjusted EPS of $2.11 on revenue of $8.72 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $2.06 cents on revenue of 8.72B.

Subscription and support revenues for the quarter were $8.14B, an increase of about 13% year-over-year. Professional services and other revenues for the quarter were $579M, an decrease of about 5% year-over-year.

The beat on the bottom line was supported by ongoing efforts to improve efficiency, with total costs falling 4% to $5.06B year-on-year in Q3, underpinned by a climb in non-GAAP operating margin to 31.2% from 22.7% in the same period a year earlier.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects adjusted EPS of $2.25 to $2.26, above Wall Street forecasts for EPS of $2.17. While revenue is forcast in a range of $9.18B to $9.23B, in line with estimates for $9.22B.

For fiscal 2024, the company said it now expects adjusted EPS of $8.18 to $8.19 and revenue of $34.75B to $34.8B, up from a prior forecast for EPS of $8.04 to $8.06 on revenue of $34.70B to $34.80B. Analysts were expecting EPS of $7.35 on revenue of $31.75B. Non-GAAP operating margin was raised to 30.5% from 30% previously.