Salesforce Sales Jump 24% -- Earnings Review

   By Austen Hufford 
 

Saleforce.com Inc. (CRM) reported results for its fourth quarter and year Wednesday. Here's what you need to know:

REVENUE: Total sales for the company rose 24% to $2.85 billion in the fourth quarter, above the $2.81 billion expected by analysts as polled by Thomson Reuters. Subscription-related sales rose 26% to $2.67 billion as professional services revenue rose 6.9% to $196 million. Deferred revenue rose 28% to $7.1 billion.

PROFIT: Net income for the quarter ended in January was $67.6 million, or 9 cents a share, compared to a loss of $51.4 million, or a loss of 7 cents a share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share came in at 35 cents, above the 33 cents expected by Wall Street.

SHARES: In post-market trading, shares fell 0.2% to $115.99.

GUIDANCE: For the current quarter, the company expects revenue of $2.93 billion to $2.94 billion, compared to $2.9 billion forecast by analysts. It expects adjusted EPS of 43 cents to 44 cents, compared to the 37 cents expected by analysts.

GLOBAL GROWTH: The Americas remained, by far, the company's largest geographic unit, bringing in $2.04 billion in revenue and 19% growth. This was followed by Europe, Middle East and Africa, with $536 million in revenue and 48% growth. Asia-Pacific had revenue of $273 million and 27% growth.

SEASONAL BUMP: The company noted that it sees a disproportionate weighting toward yearly billings in the fourth quarter, primarily due to the buying patterns of large enterprise accounts.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2018 16:50 ET (21:50 GMT)

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