Salesforce reported strong third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, surpassing Wall Street expectations. The company also raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast thanks to growing demand for its enterprise cloud solutions. This news boosted its shares by 8% in after-hours trading.
Businesses continue to invest heavily in Salesforce’s software tools and data cloud. These tools help organizations simplify workflows, manage large data volumes, and incorporate artificial intelligence.
Salesforce’s revenue climbed by 8% in the third quarter, reaching $9.44 billion. This figure surpassed the average analyst projection of $9.35 billion, as per LSEG data.
Salesforce is focusing on its new Agentforce platform to accelerate growth. Similar to Microsoft’s efforts, Agentforce leverages AI to automate tasks.
“The true turning point hinges on Agentforce execution and adoption,” Third Bridge analyst Charlie Miner said.
According to the company, Agentforce relies on its high-performing data cloud, the fastest-growing organic product in Salesforce’s history.
During a post-earnings call, executives revealed plans to hire 1,400 employees in the fourth quarter to support rising demand for Agentforce. However, analysts believe Salesforce needs more substantial enterprise adoption to move beyond single-digit growth and achieve mid-teens growth rates.
“Salesforce’s 8% year-over-year growth is steady but falls short of the breakneck pace investors love in the tech world … the most realistic timeline for mid-teens percentage growth could be the fiscal year 2027 or later,” Jeremy Goldman, senior director of briefings at Emarketer, said.
For fiscal year 2025, Salesforce now forecasts revenue between $37.8 billion and $38 billion, a slight increase from its earlier range of $37.7 billion to $38 billion. Despite the positive momentum, Salesforce earned $2.41 per share on an adjusted basis in Q3, slightly below the expected $2.44.
