Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On the morning of March 2, Beijing time, Salesforce, the world's largest provider of CRM software services, today announced the company's fourth quarter and full-year results for fiscal year 2023. According to the report, Salesforce's total revenue in the fourth quarter was $8.384 billion (currently about RMB 58.185 billion), up 14% from $7.326 billion in the same period last year, and 17% year-on-year, excluding exchange rate changes, and a net loss of $98 million (currently about RMB 680 million), compared with a net loss of $28 million in the same period last year. The net diluted loss per share was $0.01, compared with a net diluted loss of $0.03 per share in the same period last year.

Salesforce's fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings per share exceeded Wall Street analysts' expectations, as did the outlook for revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter and full year of fiscal 2024. Its shares jumped more than 14 per cent in after-hours trading after the results were released.

Key results for the fourth quarter: Salesforce posted a net loss of $98 million for the quarter ended January 31, compared with a year-on-year net loss of $28 million, and a diluted net loss of $0.030 per share compared with a year-earlier net loss of $0.030 per share.

Excluding certain one-time items (not in accordance with GAAP), Salesforce's fourth-quarter adjusted net income was $1.656 billion, compared with adjusted net income of $843 million in the same period a year earlier, and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.68, compared with adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.84 in the same period a year earlier, which beat analysts' expectations. On average, 39 analysts had expected Salesforce's adjusted earnings per share to reach $1.36 in the fourth quarter, according to Yahoo Finance.

Salesforce's fourth-quarter revenue was $8.384 billion, up 14% from $7.326 billion a year earlier, and 17% year-on-year, excluding currency changes, which also beat analysts' expectations. On average, 38 analysts had expected Salesforce's fourth-quarter revenue to reach $7.99 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.

Revenue from Salesforce's subscription and support business, by business category, was $7.789 billion in the fourth quarter, up 14 per cent from $6.828 billion a year earlier, and accounted for 93 per cent of total revenue, compared with 93 per cent a year earlier. Revenue from Salesforce's professional services and other businesses was $595 million in the fourth quarter, up 19 per cent from $498 million a year earlier, and accounted for 7 per cent of total revenue, compared with 7 per cent a year earlier.

By region, Salesforce's fourth-quarter revenue for the Americas was $5.657 billion, compared with $4.939 billion for the same period last year; revenue from its European operations was $1.935 billion, compared to $1.717 billion for the same period last year; and revenue from its Asia-Pacific business was $792 million, compared with $670 million for the same period last year. Excluding currency changes, Salesforce's revenues in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific rose 14 per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent respectively in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year earlier.

Salesforce's total revenue cost in the fourth quarter was $2.1 billion, compared with $2.014 billion a year earlier. Of this total, revenue costs for Salesforce's subscription and support business were $1.44 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $1.456 billion a year earlier, and revenue costs for professional services and other businesses were $660 million, compared with $558 million a year earlier.

Salesforce's total operating expenses in the fourth quarter were $5.927 billion, compared with $5.488 billion a year earlier. Of this total, Salesforce spent $1.128 billion on research and development in the fourth quarter, compared with $1.291 billion in the same period last year; marketing and sales expenses were $3.385 billion, compared to $3.464 billion in the same period last year; general and administrative expenses were $5.86, compared to $733 million in the same period last year; and restructuring expenses were $828 million, compared to zero in the same period last year.

Salesforce's fourth-quarter operating profit was $357 million, compared with an operating loss of $176 million a year earlier; it accounted for 4.3 per cent of total revenue, or operating margin, compared with-2.4 per cent a year earlier. Excluding certain one-time items (not in accordance with US GAAP), Salesforce's adjusted operating profit in the fourth quarter was $2.447 billion, compared with $1.096 billion in the same period last year; its share of total revenue, or adjusted operating margin, was 29.2 per cent, compared with 15.0 per cent in the same period last year. Restructuring expenses affected Salesforce's operating margin in the fourth quarter and adjusted operating margin that were not in accordance with GAAP by-990bp and 140bp, respectively.

Cash from business operations in Salesforce's fourth quarter was $2.79 billion, up 41 per cent from a year earlier, while free cash flow was $2.57 billion, up 42 per cent from a year earlier. Restructuring expenses had a negative impact on Salesforce's operating cash flow growth in the fourth quarter by 370bp.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Salesforce held $7.016 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

Main results for the year: for the entire fiscal year 2023, Salesforce's total revenue was $31.352 billion, up 18% from $26.492 billion in the previous fiscal year, and 22% year-on-year growth excluding currency changes, which exceeded analysts' expectations. On average, 47 analysts had expected Salesforce's full-year revenue to reach $30.96 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.

By business unit, Salesforce subscription and support revenue for the year was $29.021 billion, up 18% from $24.657 billion in the previous fiscal year, and professional services and other revenue was $2.331 billion, up 27% from $1.835 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Salesforce's full-year operating margin is 3.3 per cent. Excluding certain one-time items (not in accordance with GAAP), Salesforce's adjusted operating margin for the year was 22.5%. Restructuring expenses affected Salesforce's full-year operating margin and adjusted operating margin that were not in accordance with GAAP by-260bp and 40bp, respectively.

Salesforce's full-year net profit was $208 million, compared with $1.444 billion in the previous fiscal year, and diluted net profit per share was $0.21, compared with $1.48 in the previous fiscal year.

Excluding certain one-time items (not in accordance with GAAP), Salesforce's adjusted net profit for the full year was $5.224 billion, compared with $4.659 billion in the previous fiscal year, and adjusted net profit per diluted share was $5.24, compared with $4.78 a year earlier, beating analysts' expectations. On average, 46 analysts had expected full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share of Salesforce to reach $4.93, according to data provided by Yahoo Finance.

Salesforce's cash from business operations for the whole year was $7.1 billion, an increase of 19% over the previous fiscal year, and free cash flow was $6.3 billion, an increase of 19% over the previous fiscal year. Restructuring expenses had a negative impact on Salesforce's full-year operating cash flow growth of 120bp.

Performance outlook: performance outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 Salesforce expects revenue of between $8.16 billion and $8.18 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, an increase of about 10% over the same period last year, which exceeds analysts' expectations Earnings per share are expected to be between $0.24 and $0.25 per share, and non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $1.60 and $1.61, also exceeding analysts' expectations.

According to Yahoo Finance, 35 analysts had expected Salesforce's first-quarter revenue to reach $8.05 billion, while 37 analysts expected Salesforce's adjusted earnings per share to reach $1.32 in the first quarter.

In addition, Salesforce expects the current remaining performance obligations to grow by about 11% year-on-year in the first quarter of fiscal 2024.

Full-year earnings outlook for fiscal 2024 Salesforce expects revenue of between $34.5 billion and $34.7 billion in fiscal 2024, up about 10% from a year earlier, exceeding analysts' expectations; earnings per share are expected to be between $2.59 and $2.61 per share; earnings per share are expected to be between $7.12 and $7.14 per share, which is also higher than analysts' expectations.

According to data provided by Yahoo Finance, 48 analysts had expected Salesforce's annual revenue to reach $34.03 billion on average, while 47 analysts had expected Salesforce's annual earnings per share to reach $5.84.

Salesforce also expects operating cash flow to grow by 15 to 16 per cent year-on-year in fiscal 2024; operating margins are expected to reach 10.8 per cent, and adjusted operating margins that are not in accordance with US GAAP are expected to reach 27.0 per cent.

Share price reaction: Salesforce shares rose $3.74, or 2.29%, to close at $167.35 in regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Salesforce shares jumped another $23.66, or 14.14%, to $191.01 in after-hours trading as of 04:47 est (05:47 Beijing time on Thursday). In the past 52 weeks, the highest price for Salesforce is $222.16 and the lowest price is $126.34.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.