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Updated: 27-Feb-25 11:04 ET
Salesforce heads a bit lower despite big EPS beat; provided weak guidance for Q1 and FY26 (CRM)

Salesforce (CRM -2%) is heading a bit lower today despite bouncing back with a big EPS beat in Q4 (Jan) following a rare miss in Q3 (Oct). There also was some disappointment because analysts had been forecasting Q4 would be CRM's first-ever $10 bln revenue quarter. CRM was very close as revenue grew 7.6% yr/yr to $9.99 bln, but CRM on the call is rounding up and calling this its first $10 bln quarter. Regardless, the top line was still a bit light.

  • The guidance was another problem area as CRM guided to EPS and revenue shortfalls for both Q1 (Apr) and the full fiscal year (FY26). CRM sees Q1 revs at $9.71-9.76 bln, which was below analyst expectations. In fairness, the US dollar has strengthened considerably since its last earnings call. As such, CRM expects an incremental $200 mln headwind to FY26 revenue. Also, CRM expects its professional services business to continue to be a headwind to growth this year.
  • Current Remaining Performance Obligation (cRPO) is a metric that investors watch closely. It grew +11% CC to $30.2 bln in Q4, which was above the +9% prior guidance. The outperformance was driven by strong performances in Data Cloud and AI and Slack. It also benefited significantly from strong early renewals. For Q1, CRM has guided to +10% CC growth in cRPO.
  • From a geographic perspective, Americas revenue in Q4 grew 8% CC, EMEA grew 6-7% CC, and APAC grew 14% CC. CRM saw strong new business growth in LatAm, Japan and Canada, while parts of EMEA remain constrained. The US has been a bit weak, but CRM said the US saw some stabilization in Q4. From an industry perspective, Health and Life Sciences, Communications and Media, both performed well, while Tech and Manufacturing, Automotive and Energy were more measured.
  • CRM talked a lot on the call about its recent successful launch of Agentforce, which combines the features of Salesforce with AI agents working alongside humans in a digital workforce with unrivaled speed. Just 90 days after it went live, CRM already has 3,000 paying Agentforce customers. CRM is seeing customers deploy Agentforce across every industry.

Overall, this was a solid quarter and we'll call it CRM's first-ever $10 bln quarter, an important milestone. The strong EPS upside and the impressive cRPO number were the highlights. It was also good to hear that the US is stabilizing. The guidance was a letdown for both Q1 and FY26, although it sounds like FX headwinds played a role. Another takeaway was management being very excited about Agentforce. CRM describes it as the next evolution of Salesforce and its early success is encouraging.

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