Salesforce reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations, propelling its stock up 18% in trading. The company posted revenue growth of 11% from the prior year period, which ended July 31, while net income nearly doubled year-over-year to $3.53 billion, or $4.29 per share, compared with $1.89 billion or $1.96 per share in the prior-year quarter.
A significant portion of the earnings beat stemmed from a $2.6 billion gain related to Salesforce’s investment stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. The company’s free cash flow increased 81% to $1.10 billion, substantially surpassing analyst consensus estimates of $643.2 million. Similar investment gains in Anthropic were previously reported by other major technology companies including Alphabet and Microsoft.
Looking ahead, Salesforce raised its full-year revenue outlook to between $46.1 billion and $46.4 billion, implying 11% growth at the midpoint. For the upcoming fiscal third quarter, the company guided for adjusted earnings per share between $3.42 and $3.44, and revenue in the range of $11.42 billion to $11.50 billion, both exceeding analyst expectations. The company also announced plans to acquire customer service startup Fin for $3.6 billion, expected to close ahead of the original schedule.
AI-focused products demonstrated strong momentum, with annualized revenue from Agentforce AI products reaching $1.5 billion, up 240% year-over-year. Additionally, Salesforce unveiled a new plugin for Anthropic’s Claude system enabling sales personnel to compose emails and update records through conversational interfaces. Despite these gains, the company acknowledged headwinds in certain software categories including integration and analytics licensing.
Year-to-date, Salesforce shares had declined 22% while the broader S&P 500 gained 12%, reflecting investor uncertainty regarding artificial intelligence’s impact on traditional software companies. Company leadership pushed back against such concerns, with CEO Marc Benioff stating the company had not experienced the negative effects that some analysts had predicted.
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