Salesforce Reports First Single-Digit Sales Growth in Two Decades: A $9.13 Billion Miss and Stock Price Drop

San Francisco, California United States of America
CEO Marc Benioff expressed confidence in Salesforce's ability to help companies realize the promise of artificial intelligence over the next decade.
Data Cloud, Mulesoft, and Tableau saw revenue growth of 24% to $1.4 billion during the quarter.
Salesforce reported first single-digit sales growth in two decades with earnings of $2.44 per share and revenue of $9.13 billion for Q1 2025, missing analyst estimates.
Salesforce Reports First Single-Digit Sales Growth in Two Decades: A $9.13 Billion Miss and Stock Price Drop

Salesforce, a leading software company based in San Francisco, reported weaker-than-expected sales and revenue for the first quarter of 2025. This marks the first time in almost two decades that Salesforce has experienced single-digit sales growth. The company's stock price dropped significantly as a result.

According to various sources, Salesforce reported earnings of $2.44 per share on revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter ending April 30, 2025. This missed analyst estimates by a significant margin, leading to concerns about the company's future performance.

One of Salesforce's business units, Data Cloud, Mulesoft, and Tableau saw revenue growth of 24% to $1.4 billion during the quarter. Despite this growth in one area, overall sales and revenue fell short of expectations.

CEO Marc Benioff expressed confidence in Salesforce's ability to help companies realize the promise of artificial intelligence over the next decade. However, investors were not reassured by this statement and continued to sell off the stock.

Salesforce is not alone in experiencing challenges in the tech industry. Other publicly traded companies have also reported weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue recently, leading to concerns about a broader economic slowdown.

Despite these challenges, Salesforce remains well positioned with its AI features within its applications and its $27 billion acquisition of Slack in 2021. However, the company will need to address the current sales and revenue shortfall in order to regain investor confidence.

Analysts from firms such as RBC Capital Markets have expressed concerns about Salesforce's ability to compete in a rapidly changing industry. However, CEO Marc Benioff remains optimistic about the company's future prospects.

Sources:

  1. CNBC: Salesforce shares plunge 16% on first revenue miss since 2006
  2. Seeking Alpha: Salesforce plummets on weak Q1 sales, forecast
  3. Yahoo Finance: Salesforce Drops on First-Ever Single Digit Sales Growth Outlook

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Confidence

85%

Doubts
  • It's unclear if Salesforce's challenges are unique to the company or indicative of a larger trend in the tech industry.
  • The article mentions concerns about a broader economic slowdown but does not provide specific examples or data.

Sources

95%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Stock futures slide as Salesforce tumbles on revenue miss and soft guidance: Live updates

CNBC News Hakyung Kim Wednesday, 29 May 2024 22:05
  • Unique Points
    • Salesforce had its first revenue miss since February 2006 and weak second quarter revenue and earnings guidance causing shares to plunge 17%
  • Accuracy
    • Salesforce missed revenue expectations for the fiscal first quarter
    • Revenue for Salesforce's Data Cloud, Mulesoft, and Tableau business unit increased by 24% to $1.4 billion.
    • Salesforce reported weaker-than-expected revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate by $0.04 billion.
    • In the fiscal first quarter ending April 30, revenue increased by 11% to $9.13 billion
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

86%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Salesforce shares plunge 16% on first revenue miss since 2006

CNBC News Jordan Novet Wednesday, 29 May 2024 20:17
  • Unique Points
    • Salesforce reported weaker-than-expected revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate by $0.04 billion.
    • CEO Marc Benioff appeared at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
    • Salesforce saw budget scrutiny and longer deal cycles during the quarter, leading to a revenue miss and lower-than-expected guidance for the current quarter.
  • Accuracy
    • Revenue guidance remains at $37.7 billion to $38 billion for the current fiscal year.
  • Deception (85%)
    The article provides clear financial data from Salesforce's Q1 earnings report and discloses the sources of that data. The author does not make any editorializing or pontification statements, nor is there any emotional manipulation or sensationalism. However, there are instances of selective reporting as the author focuses on the revenue miss and underperformance in one specific product category while glossing over the growth in other areas and overall net income increase. The article also mentions ongoing negotiations for a potential acquisition without disclosing their outcome, which could be considered a lie by omission if talks had indeed collapsed before publication.
    • Weaver said Salesforce acquisitions would need "a clear timeline to value accretion."
    • Revenue from the Professional Services and Other category, at $548 million, was down 9% and under the StreetAccount consensus of $572.9 million.
  • Fallacies (85%)
    The author makes an appeal to authority by citing LSEG data for Salesforce's revenue performance since 2006. This is not a fallacy in and of itself, but it does weaken the author's argument if the reader questions the reliability or accuracy of LSEG's data.
    • ] Salesforce fell short on revenue, according to LSEG data.[/
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

79%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Salesforce Drops on First-Ever Single Digit Sales Growth Outlook

Yahoo Finance Brody Ford Thursday, 30 May 2024 01:28
  • Unique Points
    • Salesforce Inc. reported sales growth of up to 8% in the current quarter, which is the first quarter of single-digit sales growth for the company in almost two decades.
    • Revenue for Salesforce’s Data Cloud, Mulesoft, and Tableau business unit increased by 24% to $1.4 billion.
    • CEO Marc Benioff stated that Salesforce is well positioned to help companies realize the promise of AI over the next decade.
  • Accuracy
    • Salesforce reported sales growth of up to 8% in the current quarter.
    • Salesforce missed revenue expectations for the fiscal first quarter.
  • Deception (70%)
    The article reports Salesforce's financial results and growth outlook for the current quarter. While there is no overt deception in the article, it does contain some selective reporting and emotional manipulation. The author quotes an analyst expressing concerns about Salesforce's sales growth, but fails to mention that most analysts do not expect generative AI features within Salesforce applications to boost revenue until 2025 or 2026. This omission creates a negative impression of the company's current financial situation and potential for future growth. Additionally, the author uses phrases like 'fuelling concerns' and 'stalled sales growth' to manipulate readers' emotions and create a sense of urgency around Salesforce's financial performance.
    • Fueling concerns about the company’s ability to stay relevant as the industry shifts toward artificial-intelligence tools.
    • Most Read from Bloomberg World’s Largest Nuclear Plant Sits Idle While Energy Needs Soar
  • Fallacies (85%)
    The author makes an appeal to authority by quoting analysts' estimates and expectations. This does not constitute a logical fallacy on its own, but it can be misused to manipulate the reader's perception. In this case, the author is simply reporting on these analysts' opinions without any clear bias or manipulation.
    • ]Analysts, on average, estimated $9.35 billion[
    • Profit, excluding some items, will be about $2.35 a share[
    • Most analysts don’t expect generative AI features within Salesforce applications to boost revenue until 2025 or 2026.
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

94%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Salesforce plummets on weak Q1 sales, forecast

Seeking Alpha Investment Community Chris Ciaccia Wednesday, 29 May 2024 20:09
  • Unique Points
    • Salesforce reported earnings of $2.44 per share on $9.13B in revenue for Q1 2025.
    • Marketing and commerce revenue was $1.28B, services revenue was $2.18B, and subscription and support revenue was $8.59B during the quarter.
    • Salesforce forecasted to earn between $2.34 and $2.36 per share on an adjusted basis for Q2 2025.
    • Net income jumped to $1.53 billion, or $1.56 per share, from $199 million in the same quarter last year.
    • Salesforce started selling its Einstein Copilot assistant to sales and customer service representatives during the quarter.
  • Accuracy
    • Salesforce is poised to chop 281 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average at Thursday’s market open due to its postmarket decline of almost $43 in after-hours trading Wednesday.
    • Incomes jumped to $1.53 billion, or $1.56 per share, from $199 million in the same quarter last year.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (95%)
    The author's statements are primarily reporting facts about Salesforce's financial performance and analyst estimates. There is no clear evidence of logical fallacies in the text. However, there are a few instances where the author uses inflammatory language to describe Salesforce's performance ('plunged nearly 11%') which could be seen as an appeal to emotion but does not rise to the level of a formal fallacy.
    • Salesforce shares plunged nearly 11% in extended-hours trading on Wednesday
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication