By
Chimamanda U. Martha
February 13th, 2024
Salesforce has doubled down on its share buyback program which it commenced last year and said it will be committing the sum of $20 billion to the initiative.
The shares of the American cloud-based software company Salesforce Inc (NYSE: CRM) are leading Wall Street momentum today as it jumps 15.79% in the Pre-Market following its recently announced performance and revenue figures. The company reported $8.38 billion in revenue for the Fourth Quarter of the 2023 Fiscal year ended on January 31.
This revenue is up by 14% year-over-year and it surpasses the $7.99 billion projected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. The Earnings Per Share (EPS) for the quarter came in at $1.68 per share, adjusted, as against the $1.36 per share expected by Refinitiv analysts.
Despite crucial headwinds experienced in the quarter, Salesforce weathered some of its toughest storms. However, the San Francisco-based company reported a loss of $98 million for the quarter, a figure that surpasses the $28 million it recorded in the year-ago period.
For the Full Year, Salesforce recorded total revenue of $31.4 billion, up 18% year over year and by 22% on a Constant Currency basis.
“For the full year we delivered $31.4 billion in revenue, up 18% year-over-year, or 22% in constant currency, one of the best performances of any enterprise software company our size,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce. “We closed FY23 with operating cash flow reaching $7.1 billion, up 19% year-over-year, the highest cash flow in our company’s history, and one of the highest cash flows of any enterprise software company our size.”
The company experienced a shrink in its top management as Co-CEO, Bret Taylor stepped down from the role during the quarter. The past year was a tough one for companies globally as many countries’ economies shrunk on account of raging inflation. Drastic cost control measures had to be instituted across the board, including at Salesforce.
Salesforce Revenue and Expedited Performance
For Salesforce, its revenue is a showcase of its cost management efforts according to Benioff. The company also reported a gross margin of 29.2%, a figure that is dubbed the highest in the company’s history.
The firm had expected to hit a gross margin of 25% for the 2026 Fiscal Year, thus coloring the current achievement of Benioff’s administration.
“Six months ago in September at our Dreamforce Investor Day we shared with you our comprehensive transformation plan, the new day for profitable growth,” Benioff said on the conference call. “But things have changed as we entered our fourth quarter. We recognized that we needed to radically accelerate the transformation plan time frame. We needed to press the hyper-space button and bring the two-year goals forward quickly and exceed them now.”
Salesforce has doubled down on its share buyback program which it commenced last year and said it will be committing the sum of $20 billion to the initiative. The company is expecting a full fiscal revenue between $34.5 billion to $34.7 billion, up from the $34.03 billion already projected by analysts.