Beating expectations, no short-term revenue growth from artificial intelligence, acquisitions on the horizon and praise for MuleSoft were some of the big takeaways from Salesforce’s reported earnings for the second quarter of its 2024 fiscal year.

The San Francisco-based customer relationship management (CRM) software vendor saw $8.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, above an expected $8.53 billion, according to a Thursday report from investment firm Wedbush.

The firm said that it believes “this quarter was a continued testament to Salesforce’s resilience in this backdrop with crushing the margin and expense profile story, continuing new investments in the shift to AI, and providing an impressive raised guidance to the year with operating margin expected to be ~30” percent, according to the report.

[RELATED: Salesforce CEO: We Are ‘Transforming From Being Not Only The No. 1 CRM, But To The No. 1 AI CRM’] 

Salesforce Q2 Earnings Explained

Investment firm William Blair said in its Thursday report that “Salesforce’s second-quarter results surprised to the upside again as the company continues to deliver on its profitable growth strategy” with growth “proving to be more durable than the bears feared, which is a good recipe for success.”

Still, not all analysts were pleased with the results. A Thursday report from Bernstein pointed out signs of saturation in the vendor’s business.

Salesforce’s stock price at close of market Thursday was about $221 a share, up about 3 percent from Wednesday’s close.

Salesforce has about 11,000 partners, according to the vendor.

Read on for more takeaways from Salesforce’s second fiscal quarter earnings.