SAP competitor raises goals: Salesforce shines with record profit

The trend towards home offices in the coronavirus pandemic is pushing the business of the software company Salesforce. The SAP rival comes up with a record profit. The goals are set higher. That works.

The SAP competitor Salesforce is more confident again after initial difficulties in the Corona crisis. In the fiscal year to the end of January 2021, revenues between $ 20.7 billion and $ 20.8 billion and thus an increase of up to 22 percent are expected, the company said.

Salesforce, which dominates the customer management software (CRM) market, is benefiting from the home office trend. As a result, companies have to increasingly rely on computing capacities and applications from the cloud so that their employees can act remotely.

Enthusiasm in the stock market

In May, expectations had been lowered by a billion to about $ 20 billion. The US group has now also revised its profit targets upwards. Despite the numerous trouble spots, Salesforce had one of its best quarters, said CEO Marc Benioff.

The quarterly balance sheet was enthusiastically received on the stock exchange. The share jumped almost 15 percent in the aftermath. In the course of the day it had already reached a record high. From the end of August – after Apple's share split – Salesforce will be part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index.

Record profit thanks to tax credit

In the second fiscal quarter to the end of July, revenues climbed 29 percent to $ 5.15 billion. This was beyond the expectations of analysts. The bottom line was that Salesforce benefited from a tax credit of $ 2 billion, which pushed profits to just under $ 2.63 billion from just $ 91 million in the same period last year.

Just recently, Salesforce launched technology solutions under the title Work.com that are particularly in demand during the Corona crisis, such as options for tracking contacts with infected people and emergency management.