Salesforce Q1 Earnings Preview: 5 Things To Know

Some investment firms predict that Salesforce will beat expectations again when the customer relationship management software vendor announces earnings Wednesday for the first quarter of its 2024 fiscal year.

San Francisco-based Salesforce beat expectations last quarter amid a global tech business slowdown and the gathering of multiple activist investors. This time around, firms await updates from the vendor around its investment in artificial intelligence – especially generative AI – and more cross-selling across its product suite, which includes subsidiaries Tableau, MuleSoft and Slack.

Investment firm Wedbush predicts a “modest upside” to Wall Street’s expectations, with strides in integrating Slack into the broader CRM suite and the majority of cost-cutting activities done, according to a May report.

“While the macro is not roses and rainbows and CRM is still battling through various headwinds, overall we saw stronger cross-sell activity this quarter and particular strength out of the Tableau front with a number of larger more transformational suite wide deals inked during the quarter,” according to Wedbush.

[RELATED: Salesforce Enters The Generative AI Race With EinsteinGPT]

Salesforce Q1 2024 Preview

A letter in May from Birmingham, Ala.-based investment firm Vulcan Value Partners called Salesforce a “material contributor” to the fund’s performance during the fund’s first quarter.

“The company has taken numerous positive steps to increase profitability more quickly than expected,” according to the letter. “Salesforce also improved its corporate governance by recommending three new board members. The company is focused on improving margins, deemphasizing acquisitions, and has expanded its stock buyback plan from $10 billion to $20 billion. We believe Salesforce can pursue these opportunities while continuing to increase its competitive position.”

Meanwhile, a May report from Morgan Stanley laid out predictions of Salesforce getting closer to 30 percent operating margins and an “upside to consensus topline estimates” due to “relatively stable checks, healthy partner pipeline commentary, and easier” year-over-year comparables.

Conversations with partners revealed “signs of stabilization in Salesforce’s business relative to trends observed in F2H23, with healthy pipeline commentary and expectations for stable YoY growth trends despite ongoing macro challenges,” according to Morgan Stanley.

Salesforce has more than 11,000 partners in its ecosystem, according to the vendor.

Here are other factors to consider going into Salesforce’s earnings Wednesday.