salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares rocketed 13% on Wednesday to US$181 as investors applauded its first-quarter results with earnings of US$0.98per share well ahead of analyst expectations.
Revenue grew 24% year-over-year to US$7.41bn at the American cloud-based software company compared to the consensus of US$7.38bn.
Revenues from subscriptions and support increased 24% to US$6.86bn, revenues from professional services and other items increased 30% to US$0.56bn.
Salesforce also raised its adjusted profit estimate for the fiscal year ending January 2023 to US$4.75 per share from its prior forecast of US$4.63.
The enterprise software firm's shares had shed 37% of their value this year, worse than rivals Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT),
"There is no greater measure of our resilience and the momentum in our business than the US$42bn we have in remaining performance obligation, representing all future revenue under contract," said Marc Benioff, co-chief executive.
Though consumer demand is tapering and inflation is at a four-decade high, the company said there was strong demand for its software from companies looking to improve efficiencies and incorporate modern work-flows, including hybrid work.
Compared to the consensus estimate of US$7.77bn, the company anticipates 2023 second-quarter revenue to be between US$7.69-US$7.7bn.
For the full 2023 year, revenue is expected to be between US$31.7-US$31.8bn, compared to the consensus estimate of US$32.06bn.