Salesforce Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the #1 AI CRM, today announced results for its first quarter fiscal 2025 ended April 30, 2024.

First Quarter Highlights

• First Quarter Revenue of $9.13 Billion, up 11% Year-Over-Year ("Y/Y"), up 11% in Constant Currency ("CC"), inclusive of Subscription & Support Revenue of $8.59 Billion, up 12% Y/Y
• First Quarter GAAP Operating Margin of 18.7% and non-GAAP Operating Margin of 32.1%
• Current Remaining Performance Obligation of $26.4 Billion, up 10% Y/Y, up 10% in CC
• First Quarter Operating Cash Flow of $6.25 Billion, up 39% Y/Y, and Free Cash Flow of $6.08 Billion, up 43% Y/Y
• Returned $2.2 Billion in the Form of Share Repurchases and $0.4 Billion in Dividend Payments to Stockholders

FY25 Guidance Highlights

• Initiates Second Quarter FY25 Revenue Guidance of $9.20 Billion to $9.25 Billion, up 7% - 8% Y/Y
• Maintains Full Year FY25 Revenue Guidance of $37.7 Billion to $38.0 Billion, up 8% - 9% Y/Y and Lowers Full Year FY25 Subscription & Support Revenue Growth Guidance to Slightly Below 10% Y/Y & Approximately 10% in CC
• Lowers Full Year FY25 GAAP Operating Margin Guidance to 19.9% and Maintains non-GAAP Operating Margin Guidance of 32.5%
• Maintains Full Year FY25 Operating Cash Flow Growth Guidance of 21% to 24% Y/Y

“Our profitable growth trajectory continues to drive strong cash flow generation. Q1 operating cash flow was $6.25 billion, up 39% year-over-year. Q1 free cash flow was $6.1 billion, up 43% year-over-year,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce. “We are at the beginning of a massive opportunity for our customers to connect with their customers in a whole new way with AI. As the world’s #1 AI CRM, we’re incredibly well positioned to help companies realize the promise of AI over the next decade.”

“We delivered another quarter of disciplined profitable growth, with GAAP operating margin of 18.7%, up 1,370 basis points year-over-year, and Non-GAAP operating margin of 32.1%, up 450 basis points year-over year,” said Amy Weaver, President and CFO of Salesforce. “We’ve also made significant progress on our capital return program, returning more than $14 billion to shareholders since inception, including the payout of our first ever quarterly dividend in Q1.”

Guidance

Our guidance includes GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures.

The following is a reconciliation of GAAP operating margin guidance to non-GAAP operating margin guidance for the full year:

The following is a per share reconciliation of GAAP diluted EPS to non-GAAP diluted EPS guidance for the next quarter and the full year:

For additional information regarding non-GAAP financial measures see the reconciliation of results and related explanations below.

Management will provide further commentary around these guidance assumptions on its earnings call.

Product Releases and Enhancements

Three times a year Salesforce delivers new product releases, services, or enhancements to current products and services. These releases are a result of significant research and development investments made over multiple years, designed to help customers drive cost savings, boost efficiency, and build trust.

To view our major product releases and other highlights as part of the Summer 2024 Product Release, visit: www.salesforce.com/products/summer-24-release.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Strategy

To learn more about our latest initiatives and priorities, visit our recently published Stakeholder Impact Report: https://salesforce.com/stakeholder-impact-report.

Quarterly Conference Call

Salesforce plans to host a conference call at 2:00 p.m. (PT) / 5:00 p.m. (ET) to discuss its financial results with the investment community. A live webcast and replay details of the event will be available on the Salesforce Investor Relations website at www.salesforce.com/investor.

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, empowering companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way through the power of CRM + AI + Data + Trust on one unified platform: Einstein 1. For more information visit: www.salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).

"Safe harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company's financial and operating results and guidance, which include, but are not limited to, expected GAAP and non-GAAP financial and other operating and non-operating results, including revenue, net income, earnings per share, operating cash flow growth, operating margin, expected revenue growth, expected foreign currency exchange rate impact, expected current remaining performance obligation growth, expected tax rates or provisions, stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of purchased intangibles, shares outstanding, market growth, strategic investments, expected restructuring expense or charges and expected timing of product releases and enhancements. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the Company’s results or outcomes could differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

The risks and uncertainties referred to above include -- but are not limited to -- risks associated with:

• our ability to maintain sufficient security levels and service performance, avoid downtime and prevent, detect and remediate performance degradation and security breaches;
• our ability to secure sufficient data center capacity;
• our reliance on third-party infrastructure providers, including hardware, software and platform providers and the organizations responsible for the development and maintenance of the infrastructure of the Internet;
• uncertainties regarding AI technologies and their integration into our product offerings;
• our ability to achieve our aspirations, goals and projections related to our environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) initiatives;
• the effect of evolving government regulations, including those related to our industry and providing services on or accessing the Internet, and those addressing ESG matters, data privacy, cybersecurity, cross-border data transfers, government contracting and procurement, and import and export controls;
• current and potential litigation and regulatory investigations involving us or our industry;
• our ability to successfully expand or introduce new services and product features;
• our ability to successfully complete, integrate and realize the benefits from acquisitions or other strategic transactions;
• uncertainties regarding the pace of change and innovation and our ability to compete in the markets in which we participate;
• our ability to successfully execute our business strategy and our business plans, including efforts to expand internationally and related risks;
• our ability to predict and meet expectations regarding our operating results and cash flows, including revenue and remaining performance obligation, including as a result of the seasonal nature of our sales cycle and the variability in our results arising from the accounting for term license revenue products and some complex transactions;
• our ability to predict and limit customer attrition and costs related to those efforts;
• the demands on our personnel and infrastructure resulting from significant growth in our customer base and operations, including as a result of acquisitions;
• our real estate and office facilities strategy and related costs and uncertainties;
• the performance of our strategic investment portfolio, including fluctuations in the fair value of our investments;
• our ability to protect our intellectual property rights;
• our ability to maintain and enhance our brands;
• uncertainties regarding the valuation and potential availability of certain tax assets;
• the impact of new accounting pronouncements and tax laws;
• uncertainties affecting our ability to estimate our tax rate, including our tax obligations in connection with potential jurisdictional transfer of intellectual property;
• uncertainties regarding the effect of geopolitical events, inflationary pressures, market and macroeconomic volatility, financial institution instability, changes in monetary policy, foreign currency exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, a potential shutdown of the U.S. federal government and climate change, natural disasters and actual or threatened public health emergencies on our workforce, business, and operating results;
• uncertainties regarding the impact of expensing stock options and other equity awards;
• the sufficiency of our capital resources, including our ability to execute our share repurchase program and declare future cash dividends;
• our ability to comply with our debt covenants and lease obligations; and
• uncertainties regarding impacts to our workforce and workplace culture, such as those arising from our current and future office environments or remote work policies or our ability to realize the expected benefits of the restructuring plan.

Further information on these and other factors that could affect the Company’s actual results or outcomes is included in the reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings it makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of the Financials section of the Company’s website at http://investor.salesforce.com/financials/.

Salesforce, Inc. assumes no obligation and does not intend to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by law.

© 2024 Salesforce, Inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and other marks are trademarks of Salesforce, Inc. Other brands featured herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Salesforce, Inc.

Additional Metrics

(Unaudited)

Supplemental Revenue Analysis

Remaining Performance Obligation

Remaining performance obligation ("RPO") represents contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized, which includes unearned revenue and unbilled amounts that will be recognized as revenue in future periods. RPO is influenced by several factors, including seasonality, the timing of renewals, the timing of software license deliveries, average contract terms and foreign currency exchange rates. Remaining performance obligation is also impacted by acquisitions. Unbilled portions of RPO denominated in foreign currencies are revalued each period based on the period end exchange rates. The portion of RPO that is unbilled is not recorded on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

RPO consisted of the following (in billions):

Unearned Revenue

Unearned revenue represents amounts that have been invoiced in advance of revenue recognition and is recognized as revenue when transfer of control to customers has occurred or services have been provided. The change in unearned revenue was as follows (in millions):

Disaggregation of Revenue

Subscription and Support Revenue by the Company's service offerings

Subscription and support revenues consisted of the following (in millions):

Total Revenue by Geographic Locations

Revenues by geographical region consisted of the following (in millions):

Constant Currency Growth Rates

Subscription and support revenues constant currency growth rates by the Company's service offerings were as follows:

Revenue constant currency growth rates by geographical region were as follows:

Current remaining performance obligation constant currency growth rates were as follows:

Non-GAAP Financial Measures: This press release includes information about non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP earnings per share, non-GAAP tax rates, free cash flow, constant currency revenue, constant currency subscription and support revenue growth rate and constant currency current remaining performance obligation growth rates (collectively the “non-GAAP financial measures”). These non-GAAP financial measures are measurements of financial performance that are not prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and computational methods may differ from those used by other companies. Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Management uses both GAAP and non-GAAP measures when planning, monitoring and evaluating the Company’s performance.

The primary purpose of using non-GAAP measures is to provide supplemental information that may prove useful to investors and to enable investors to evaluate the Company’s results in the same way management does. Management believes that supplementing GAAP disclosure with non-GAAP disclosure provides investors with a more complete view of the Company’s operational performance and allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in the Company’s business. Further to the extent that other companies use similar methods in calculating non-GAAP measures, the provision of supplemental non-GAAP information can allow for a comparison of the Company’s relative performance against other companies that also report non-GAAP operating results.

Non-GAAP Operating Margin is the proportion of non-GAAP income from operations as a percentage of GAAP revenue. Non-GAAP income from operations excludes the impact of the following items: stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles and charges associated with the Company's restructuring activities. Non-GAAP earnings per share excludes, to the extent applicable, the impact of the following items: stock-based compensation expense, amortization of purchased intangibles, charges related to the Company's restructuring activities and income tax adjustments. These items are excluded because the decisions that give rise to them are not made to increase revenue in a particular period, but instead for the Company’s long-term benefit over multiple periods.

As described above, the Company excludes or adjusts for the following in its non-GAAP results and guidance:

• Stock-Based Compensation Expense: The Company’s compensation strategy includes the use of stock-based compensation expense to attract and retain employees and executives. It is principally aimed at aligning their interests with those of our stockholders and at long-term employee retention, rather than to motivate or reward operational performance for any particular period. Thus, stock-based compensation expense varies for reasons that are generally unrelated to operational decisions and performance in any particular period.
• Amortization of Purchased Intangibles: The Company views amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, such as the amortization of the cost associated with an acquired company’s research and development efforts, trade names, customer lists and customer relationships, and, in some cases, acquired lease intangibles, as items arising from pre-acquisition activities determined at the time of an acquisition. While these intangible assets are continually evaluated for impairment, amortization of the cost of purchased intangibles is a static expense, which is not typically affected by operations during any particular period. Although the Company excludes the amortization of purchased intangibles from these non-GAAP measures, management believes that it is important for investors to understand that such intangible assets were recorded as part of purchase accounting and contribute to revenue generation.
• Restructuring: Restructuring charges are costs associated with a formal restructuring plan and may include employee notice period costs and severance payments, lease or contract termination costs, asset impairments, accelerated depreciation and amortization and other related expenses. The Company excludes these restructuring charges because they are distinct from ongoing operational costs and it does not believe they are reflective of current and expected future business performance and operating results.
• Gains (Losses) on Strategic Investments, net: The Company records all fair value adjustments to its equity securities held within the strategic investment portfolio through the statement of operations. As it is not possible to forecast future gains and losses, the Company assumes no change to the value of its strategic investment portfolio in its GAAP and non-GAAP estimates for future periods, including its guidance. Gains (Losses) on Strategic Investments, net, are included in its GAAP financial statements.
• Income Tax Effects and Adjustments: The Company utilizes a fixed long-term projected non-GAAP tax rate in order to provide better consistency across the interim reporting periods by eliminating the effects of items such as changes in the tax valuation allowance and tax effects of acquisition-related costs, since each of these can vary in size and frequency. When projecting this long-term rate, the Company evaluated a three-year financial projection that excludes the direct impact of the following non-cash items: stock-based compensation expenses and the amortization of purchased intangibles. The projected rate also considers factors including the Company’s expected tax structure, its tax positions in various jurisdictions and key legislation in major jurisdictions where the Company operates. For fiscal 2024, the Company used a projected non-GAAP tax rate of 23.5%. For fiscal 2025, the Company uses a projected non-GAAP tax rate of 22.0%, which reflects currently available information, as well as other factors and assumptions. The non-GAAP tax rate could be subject to change for a variety of reasons, including the rapidly evolving global tax environment, significant changes in the Company’s geographic earnings mix due to acquisition activity or other changes to the Company’s strategy or business operations. The Company will re-evaluate its long-term rate as appropriate.

The Company presents constant currency information to provide a framework for assessing how the Company's underlying business performed excluding the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations. To present constant currency revenue growth rates, current and comparative prior period results for entities reporting in currencies other than United States dollars are converted into United States dollars at the weighted average exchange rate for the quarter being compared to rather than the actual exchange rates in effect during that period. To present current remaining performance obligation growth rates on a constant currency basis, current remaining performance obligation balances in local currencies in previous comparable periods are converted using the United States dollar currency exchange rate as of the most recent balance sheet date.

The Company defines the non-GAAP measure free cash flow as GAAP net cash provided by operating activities, less capital expenditures.

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