Salesforce Shows Resilience in the Cloud Computing World
In recent months, a market-wide stock selloff has occurred amongst cloud computing companies, and the results have hit hard. Even big name companies like Salesforce felt the burn.
It is speculated that one the reasons for this downward trend is that investors who want to find havens for their companies don’t typically make plays that are considered “richly valued,” leading to cases that don’t always have a positive cash flow.
Salesforce’s stock was down by more than 20% until the release of fourth-quarter numbers. These numbers showed, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Salesforce has “benefits of both scale and maturity that the company brings to a space that is still in its adolescence.”
The company’s billings—a key metrics-based system for measuring invoices during a given quarter among cloud companies—increased by roughly 28% yearly to upwards of $3.3 billion. This number is 7% higher than the 21% that analysts expected. Furthermore, the flow of free cash increased by 50% for the fiscal year.
Salesforce didn’t achieve these kinds of results by playing it safe, nor is this amount of growth cheap. Roughly half of Salesforce’s revenue for sales and marketing is still expended. This level hasn’t changed in at least the last decade. Moreover, they also provide employees with such generous access to stock options that actual profits haven’t been indicated for the last 5 years.
Salesforce’s recent metrics make the company appear highly valued compared to its peers—Salesforce stock trades for nearly 29 times the amount of its free cash flow. This statistic falls below some smaller peers, while rising above some of the larger companies in the enterprise software sector.
All of this boils down to indicate that Salesforce can’t ease up its effort. Experts suggest that the company needs to work hard to hit aggressive growth targets. Over the next several years, the Wall Street Journal expects an annual growth of 20%, whereas some larger enterprise-tech companies may continue to have single-digit growth.
The success of Salesforce is great news for businesses that use the cloud computing company’s products. Continued growth almost certain means improved features and functionality that expand Salesforce’s offerings.
If you would like to learn more about Salesforce and how its cloud computing products can be integrated seamlessly with your existing operations, we invite you to contact the Salesforce certified consultants at Ad Victoriam Solutions.
