Salesforce shares surged 14% in extended trading Wednesday after the cloud software company reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates and raised its full-year guidance.
The company posted revenue of $11.4 billion for the quarter ended July 31, up 11% from a year earlier, according to a statement. Net income jumped 87% to $3.53 billion, or $4.29 per share, from $1.89 billion, or $1.96 per share, in the year-ago period.
The bottom line was helped by a $2.6 billion gain on strategic investments, including a stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. Anthropic said in May it had raised equity funding that valued the company at $965 billion.
Salesforce also announced Claudeforce, a plugin for Anthropic’s Claude AI model that can compose emails for salespeople, provide them with information, and update records through chat.
Guidance tops expectations
For the fiscal third quarter, Salesforce said it expects adjusted earnings between $3.42 and $3.44 per share on revenue of $11.42 billion to $11.50 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated $3.38 in adjusted EPS and $11.41 billion in revenue.
The company raised its full-year outlook, now calling for adjusted earnings of $16.67 to $16.71 per share on revenue of $46.1 billion to $46.4 billion, implying 11% growth at the midpoint. The LSEG consensus was $46.11 billion in revenue. In May, Salesforce had guided for $14.06 to $14.12 in adjusted earnings per share for fiscal 2027 on $45.9 billion to $46.2 billion in revenue.
AI momentum and key deals
Annualized revenue from Agentforce AI products topped $1.5 billion, up 240% year over year, accelerating from a growth rate of over 200% in the previous quarter.
During the quarter, Salesforce announced a $1.6 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and revealed plans to acquire customer service startup Fin for $3.6 billion.
The company reported current remaining performance obligation of $33.5 billion, a measure of revenue expected to be recognized over the next year. Analysts polled by StreetAccount had expected $33.22 billion.
As of Wednesday’s close, Salesforce shares were down 22% year to date, while the S&P 500 had gained 12% over the same period. Investors have been weighing how much of a threat generative AI poses to traditional software companies.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/26/salesforce-crm-q2-earnings-report-2027.html
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