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Salesforce (CRM) is nicely higher after being indicated lower in the premarket following its Q4 (Jan) results last night. The company delivered a sizeable EPS beat while revenue was in line, increasing 12.1% yr/yr to $11.2 bln. Q1 guidance came in above expectations with EPS of $3.11-3.13 and revenue of $11.03-11.08 bln. However, FY27 guidance was more mixed, coming largely in line with EPS of $13.11-13.19 and revenue of $45.8-46.2 bln, implying 10-11% growth. With that outlook including roughly a 3% contribution from Informatica, excluding it suggests a growth rate closer to FY26's pace (+9.6%), keeping questions on whether CRM can deliver a clearer organic reacceleration as AI products scale.

• Results were driven by Agentforce, Data 360, Slack, Agentforce Sales and Service, and outperformance from Informatica, partially offset by continued weakness in marketing and commerce and Tableau.
• cRPO increased 16% yr/yr to $35.1 bln (vs +11% to $29.4 bln in Q3), driven by strong net new AOV across Agentforce, Data 360, and core clouds, but also included roughly a 4% contribution from Informatica.
• Agentforce and Data 360 ARR exceeded $2.9 bln, up over 200% yr/yr (+114% to $1.4 bln in Q3). This included about $1.1 bln of Informatica Cloud ARR, but CRM noted that 75%+ of top-100 wins in Q4 included both Agentforce and Data 360.
• Agentforce was the standout, with ARR increasing 169% yr/yr to $800 mln ($540 mln in Q3). CRM saw particular strength in premium SKUs, with new bookings nearly tripling q/q, and more than 60% of Agentforce and Data 360 bookings came from existing customers expanding commitments.
• Customer wins were strong in Q4, with wins over $1 mln increasing 26% yr/yr and wins over $10 mln rising 33% yr/yr.
• Non-GAAP operating margin expanded 110 bps yr/yr to 34.2%. FY27 non-GAAP operating margin is expected to be up 20 bps to 34.3%, even as it steps up investment behind adoption and sales capacity.
• CEO Marc Benioff said this is not their first "SaaSpocalypse," as it survived the 2020 downturn. He views the current AI-driven software sell-off as more of a marketing opportunity and buying opportunity, which underpins the massive $50 bln buyback program. He also highlighted Salesforce's traction with AI-native customers, noting Anthropic runs its operations on Salesforce and Slack.
• FY27 guidance assumes continued momentum in Agentforce and Data 360, but is partially offset by ongoing weakness in marketing, commerce, and Tableau. It raised FY30 revenue target to $63 bln, reflecting the strong contributions from Informatica.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight

The headline results were strong from CRM, with revenue, cRPO, and total Agentforce and Data 360 ARR all accelerating relative to Q3. However, those metrics also included recent contributions from Informatica, which keeps the focus on underlying cRPO trends, revenue growth, and FY27 guidance, and leaves questions around the pace of organic reacceleration. What was encouraging, though, was the continued strength in Agentforce and Data 360, with Informatica lifting total ARR, but Agentforce itself scaling rapidly as bookings expand and premium SKUs gain traction. Also encouraging was Benioff's commentary, stating that AI is an enabler that expands the opportunity from apps to apps and agents, while specifically calling out that "these are some low prices," which helps explain the massive $50 bln buyback authorization and the confidence behind it. Still, the initial negative response reflects that FY27 guidance was largely in line even with Informatica and stepped-up share repurchases, keeping questions on the pace of core reacceleration despite the quarterly strength and AI momentum.