Salesforce Lowers Q3 Guidance Despite Beating Estimates in Q2 Fiscal 2023

UTC by Ibukun Ogundare · 3 min read
Salesforce Lowers Q3 Guidance Despite Beating Estimates in Q2 Fiscal 2023
Photo: Thomas Hawk / Flickr

The company added in the Q2 fiscal 2023 results that the guidance does not determine the value of the company’s “strategic investment portfolio as it is not possible to forecast future gains and losses.” 

Despite beating quarterly estimates in fiscal Q2, cloud-based software company Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) gave a disappointing forecast for fiscal 2023. The company exceeded analysts’ expectations during the last quarter in earnings and revenue. While adjusted earnings per share were $1.19, revenue was $7.72 billion. Meanwhile, analysts were expecting $1.02 per share and $7.69 billion in earnings and revenue, respectively. Revenue for the quarter is a 22% jump compared to the same period of the previous year. However, net income declined from the year-ago quarter when the company saw huge gains on investments.

Salesforce Trims Full-Year Expectation as Company Tops Estimates in Q2 Fiscal 2023

Salesforce Chair and Co-CEO Marc Benioff said the company had a strong Q2 fiscal 2023. He said the performance shows the durability of the Salesforce business model. Co-CEO Bret Taylor also stated that the results signify the company’s strength and its diversity of product portfolio in different regions, industries, and segments.

Moving forward from the Q2 fiscal 2023 financial positions, Salesforce is looking forward to adjusted earnings per share from $1.20 to $1.21. Also, the revenue outlook for the current quarter is between $7.82 billion to $7.83 billion. Analysts expect $1.29 in adjusted earnings per share on $8.07 billion in revenue. The cloud-based software company said the impact of the exchange rates limited the revenue guidance from reaching $250 million.

Furthermore, Salesforce lowered its fiscal 2023 guidance on both earnings and revenue. The company now expects $4.71 to $4.73 in earnings per share, down from the prior forecast of $4.74 to $4.76 per share. Also, fiscal 2023 guidance for revenue has become $30.9 billion to $31 billion. The company was looking forward to $31.7 billion to $31.8 billion in revenue.

Benioff commented on the weaker guidance:

“Sales cycles can get stretched, deals are inspected by higher levels of management and all of this we began to start to see in July. Nearly everyone I’ve talked to is taking a more measured approach to their business. We expect these trends to continue in the near term, and we’ve reflected this in our guidance.”

Salesforce’s Fiscal 2023 Guidance

The company added in the Q2 fiscal 2023 results that the guidance does not determine the value of the company’s “strategic investment portfolio as it is not possible to forecast future gains and losses.”

Salesforce stock is currently trading down 6.31% to $168.66 in pre-market trading. Except for surging 10.80% in the last three months, the company’s stock has declined over the year. The cloud-based software maker has plunged 32.78% in the last twelve months and shed 29.17% since the year started. It has also plummeted 0.71% over the past month and declined 4.21%.

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