Global software corporations Salesforce, Inc. posted second-quarter results this year that beat market expectations. Sales of artificial intelligence (AI)-based product lines increased, while a surge in valuation gains from its equity investment in AI startup Anthropic also played a role. With forward guidance also topping Wall Street forecasts, Salesforce, Inc. jumped 13% in after-hours trading.
Salesforce, Inc. said on the 26th (local time) that revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2027 (May–July) rose 11% from a year earlier to $11.35 billion (about 15.7 trillion won). Revenue beat the market consensus of $11.32 billion.
Net income climbed 87% in the same period to $3.53 billion (about 4.9 trillion won). Its equity investment in Anthropic contributed significantly to the increase in net income. Boosted by the rise in Anthropic's equity value, Salesforce, Inc. booked $2.6 billion (about 3.6 trillion won) in valuation gains from strategic investments. As of May, Anthropic was valued at $965 billion (about 1,300 trillion won).
Sales of AI-related products also increased. The annualized revenue of Salesforce, Inc.'s AI agent platform "Agentforce" surpassed $1.5 billion, up 240% from a year earlier.
On the strength of its AI business, Salesforce, Inc. also raised its full-year outlook. It lifted its annual revenue forecast to $46.1 billion–$46.4 billion from $45.9 billion–$46.2 billion. It guided third-quarter revenue of $11.42 billion–$11.5 billion. It put current remaining performance obligations (cRPO), which are expected to be recognized as revenue within a year, at $33.5 billion, above the market forecast of $33.22 billion.
Salesforce, Inc., the leading corporations in customer relationship management (CRM) software, saw its share price fall 22% this year on concerns about a so-called "SaaSpocalypse" — the idea that AI would eat software. But after posting better-than-expected results that day, the stock surged more than 13% in after-hours transaction.
On the same day, Salesforce, Inc. also unveiled "Claudeforce," a plugin (extension tool) based on Anthropic's AI model Claude. It can draft emails on behalf of users, provide needed information, and update customer records through conversations.
Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Inc. co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), said, "It's time to put the software doomsday talk to rest," adding, "All through the first half of the year there were gloomy predictions that AI would swallow software, but AI is not cannibalizing Salesforce, Inc.'s business — it is strengthening it."
According to CEO Benioff, nine of the world's top 10 AI corporations use Salesforce, Inc.'s software and the workplace collaboration tool Slack, and their spending on the two platforms jumped 435% from a year earlier.