Salesforce raises annual results forecast on strong cloud spending
FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, U.S., March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File photo
(Reuters) - Salesforce raised its revenue and adjusted profit forecast for fiscal 2026 on Wednesday, as the enterprise software provider benefits from strong cloud spending while ramping up monetization of its artificial intelligence agents.
Shares of the company rose around 3% in extended trading.
Cloud spending from major enterprises has remained resilient even amid global macroeconomic uncertainty over the past few months, as companies invest heavily in artificial intelligence to modernize their digital infrastructure.
For Salesforce, higher cloud spending bodes well for its efforts to ramp up monetization for its AI agent platform, Agentforce, as it bets big on the rise of agentic technology to spur adoption of its software offerings.
The company has been investing heavily in expanding both its Agentforce platform and its footprint across the globe in an attempt to tap into newer markets with high demand for automation and cloud services.
Salesforce bought data management platform Informatica for about $8 billion on Tuesday, looking to bolster its prominent data tools and tighten management of how data is processed and deployed across its portfolio.
The company's re-entry into big-ticket M&A after years on the sidelines sparks concerns about Salesforce's ability to return to double-digit growth without relying on acquisitions.
The company expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be between $41 billion and $41.3 billion, compared with its prior forecast range of $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion.
It raised its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings per share to a range of $11.27 to $11.33, compared to its previous forecast of $11.09 to $11.17 per share.
The company reported first-quarter revenue of $9.83 billion, beating estimates of $9.75 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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